Homer Bailey tossed a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, becoming the first MLB pitcher to accomplish the feat since…Homer Bailey.
ESPN’s Buster Olney captured the moment:
The Associated Press’ Joe Kay, meanwhile, noted that Bailey now joins some prestigious Cincinnati Reds history:
Of course, MLB’s official Twitter account and ESPN Stats & Info have a couple of more stats that now put him into an even more elite group:
The 27-year-old righty, who held the Pittsburgh Pirates hitless on Sept. 28 of last season, twirled an absolute gem. He struck out nine and allowed just one baserunner on a walk in the seventh inning to do what no one else has been able to accomplish in 2013, per ESPN Stats & Info:
At this point last season, there were already an astounding five no-hitters.
Bailey was dominant from start to finish and, likely fueled by the adrenaline, was throwing heat all the way into the ninth inning, per Olney:
Moreover, it was a performance that mirrored last year’s gem in an almost eerie fashion, according to MLB’s Twitter:
Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
After Blanco advanced to second base following his walk in the second inning, Buster Posey grounded to first. As FOX Sports’ Brian Snow points out, Bailey wasn’t going to cover first in time:
No worries, though, as Votto intelligently fired the ball to third and got Blanco to force a fielder’s choice, thus becoming Bailey’s new best friend for the night:
After putting forth a transcendent performance, he still had the time and energy afterwards to make a quip, courtesy of Newsday’s Marc Carig:
He later explained his mindset to MLB Network, courtesy of MLB’s Twitter:
Of course, despite all the great things about this night—the dominant performance, the heady play by Votto in the seventh, the back-to-back historical component, the celebration—the best might just be the fact that a guy named Homer is missing so many bats, according to the Denver Post‘s Troy Renck:
Author Steve Rushin takes it one step further, ranking all of the Homers:
Anytime you can beat out Simpson, you know it’s been a good night.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com