Athletics starting pitcher J.T. Ginn almost made history on Monday. Instead, the A’s lost in the worst way possible.
The Los Angeles Angels pulled off a stunning, 2-1 walk-off win, despite Ginn throwing eight no-hit innings in Anaheim. The pitcher recorded 10 strikeouts and had allowed just one walk heading into the final frame.
Unfortunately for Ginn, the Athletics did not do anything on offense to back up his performance. The A’s recorded six hits but left nine batters on base to stay scoreless through the eighth inning.
Finally, in the ninth, Lawrence Butler gave the A’s that much-needed run, sending Zack Gelof home with an RBI single.
Ginn then went back to the mound in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to make history. But on the third pitch of the first at-bat of the inning, Angels second baseman Adam Frazier hit a single to break up the no-no.
The next batter, Zach Neto, hit a two-run homer to win the game and cement a deeply disastrous loss for the A’s.
The victory for the Angels comes after they were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend in a rivalry series that demonstrated the deeper issues within the organization. Prior to the victory Monday, chants of “sell the team” were heard echoing through the stadium, as Angels fans became the latest fan base to go “tarps off” in the stands amid a boring game.
Yet L.A. got the win in the end.
Ginn’s showing was so close to ending a nearly two-year no-hitter drought in MLB, after zero no-hitters were thrown in 2025. The most recent no-hitter in MLB came in September 2024, with a combined no-hitter from the Chicago Cubs led by Shota Imanaga.
Instead, the league will have to keep waiting for the first no-hitter of 2026. Cleveland Guardians rookie Parker Messick came close last month but also had his no-hit bid broken up in the ninth.
