Milwaukee Brewers: A history of recent Brewers no-hit bids

Friday night, the Milwaukee Brewers made a strong attempt at a no-hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It fell short, but what are some other close no-hit bids for the Crew that just didn’t make it?

Jordan Lyles and the Milwaukee Brewers came oh so close to just the second no hitter in franchise history on Friday night. Lyles made it six innings without allowing a hit, but his pitch count was at 99 and it was time to remove him from the game.

In came Devin Williams, who retired the first two batters before Christian Walker dumped a bloop single into centerfield to end the no-hit bid. It was a tough break for the Brewers and their sellout crowd at Miller Park, who have been dying to see a no-hitter for the first time since 1987.

The no hit bid made it 6.2 innings against Arizona. What have been some other close bids?

Chase Anderson vs Arizona

May 27, 2017

Coincidentally, the last serious Brewers no-hit bid was also against the Arizona Diamondbacks. For Chase Anderson, it was against his former team as well.

In this start, Anderson made it seven innings before giving up a hit to Nick Ahmed to start off the 8th, and with Anderson at 114 pitches, Craig Counsell removed him from the game to a standing ovation.

Anderson was thoroughly dominant in that start, giving up just the one hit in seven-plus innings, three walks, and 11 strikeouts. It was this game that really helped kick off Anderson’s hot streak that put him as the ace of that 2017 staff. He allowed only six runs combined in seven starts, including this game, before he left on June 28th with that oblique injury.

Chase Anderson vs Chicago (NL)

May 17, 2016

Chase Anderson had two deep no-hit bids in back to back seasons in 2016 and 2017, both around the same time of year as well.

This one was against the powerhouse Chicago Cubs, who went on to do things in October this very same season. But Chase Anderson shut them down completely for the first seven innings.

Anderson can make it seven innings without giving up a hit, but once he reaches that 8th, he loses it. This time, it was a leadoff double by Ben Zobrist in the 8th inning to ruin the no-hit bid for Anderson.

Craig Counsell left him in there to go for the complete game, but gave up back to back home runs in the 9th to make it a 4-2 game, and had to go to Jeremy Jeffress to close out the win.

Yovani Gallardo vs St. Louis

May 7, 2011

It was quite the pitching matchup on this day in 2011, between Yovani Gallardo and future Brewer Kyle Lohse. The Brewers won this game 4-0 in St. Louis and Gallardo put on a show.

Once again, the latest this no-hit bid went was through seven innings. Gallardo carved up the Cardinals lineup, striking out six, but walking four. When he got into the 8th inning, the first batter was Daniel Descalso, who singled up the middle to end the no-hit bid. Gallardo completed the inning and was replaced by closer John Axford in the 9th to close out the 4-0 win.

This was a Cardinals lineup that still had Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman, and of course, Yadier Molina, back in his prime.

CC Sabathia vs Pittsburgh

August 31, 2008

This one sticks in the minds of Brewers fans the most because this one should’ve been a no-hitter.

CC Sabathia had made it through four hitless innings when a swinging bunt in front of the mound by Andy LaRoche was dropped by Sabathia, but the official scorer in Pittsburgh ruled it a base hit. Ask anyone on the Milwaukee Brewers side and they’ll tell you it was an error. But the official scorer in Pittsburgh made a very hasty and quick decision to call it a base hit for LaRoche, robbing Sabathia of a deserved no-hitter.

CC was lights out in this game, going all nine innings, giving up just that one “hit” and striking out 11 Pirates. This was Sabathia’s sixth complete game with Milwaukee, and he finished with seven, and only joined the team in early July.

It’s amazing to look back at what Sabathia did for this Milwaukee Brewers team, and he did some truly amazing stuff to carry that 2008 club to the playoffs. If only his contributions could’ve been recognized with a no-hitter back in Pittsburgh, he would have further cemented his place in Brewers lore.

Ben McDonald vs Baltimore

July 11, 1997

A similar situation to what Jordan Lyles just went through, Ben McDonald made it six innings without giving up a hit against the Orioles before giving way to Mike Fetters in the 7th who gave up a one out single to Rafael Palmeiro to end the bid.

The rest of the bullpen, Ron Villone and Doug Jones, got the memo of keeping the no-hitter, but Fetters gave up three hits that day. The Brewers still won 3-1 over Baltimore.

McDonald mowed down an Orioles lineup with some big names, including Palmeiro, Cal Ripken, Roberto Alomar, and BJ Surhoff.

Some fun facts about McDonald, this game was his second-to-last game he ever pitched in the big leagues. He made one more start and that was it for his career. McDonald was 6’7″ tall, and his no hit bid was against his former team, the Orioles.

There’s a recent history of the Milwaukee Brewers attempts for a no-hitter. They’ve come close, making it through no more than seven innings with no-hits, but Juan Nieves remains alone in the no-hitters club in Brewers history.