In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine complete innings recorded no hits. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is thereby said to have "thrown a no-hitter". In most cases, no-hitters are recorded by a single pitcher who throws a complete game; one thrown by two or more pitchers is a combined no-hitter.
A no-hitter is a rare accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff—only 322 have been thrown in MLB history since 1876, an average of about two per year. The most recent major league no-hitter by a single pitcher was thrown on August 9, 2023, by Michael Lorenzen of the Philadelphia Phillies against the Washington Nationals. The most recent combined no-hitter was thrown on July 8, 2023, by starter Matt Manning and relief pitchers Jason Foley, and Alex Lange of the Detroit Tigers against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The MLB season with the most no-hit games is the season, in which nine official no-hitters were pitched. Additionally, there were two other games pitched without giving up a hit, but were not official no-hitters because they were less than nine innings.
It is possible to reach base without a hit, most commonly by a walk, error, or being hit by a pitch. Other possibilities include the batter reaching first after an uncaught third strike or catcher's interference. (One other possibility is a fielder's choice, but this requires that there already is a runner on base.) A no-hitter in which no batters reach base at all is a perfect game, a much rarer feat. Because batters can reach base by means other than a hit, a pitcher can throw a no-hitter (though not a perfect game) and still give up runs, and even lose the game, although this is extremely uncommon, and most no-hitters are also shutouts. One or more runs were given up in 25 recorded no-hitters in MLB history, most recently by Ervin Santana of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a 3–1 win against the Cleveland Indians on July 27, 2011. On two occasions, a team has thrown a nine-inning no-hitter and still lost the game. It is theoretically possible for opposing pitchers to throw no-hitters in the same game, although this has never happened in the major leagues. Two pitchers, Fred Toney and Hippo Vaughn, completed nine innings of a game on May 2, 1917, without either giving up a hit or a run; Vaughn gave up two hits and a run in the 10th inning, losing the game to Toney, who completed the extra-inning no-hitter.
MLB no-hitters
Definition
A no-hitter is defined by MLB: "An official no-hit game occurs when a pitcher (or pitchers) allows no hits during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings." This 1991 definition by MLB's Committee for Statistical Accuracy caused previously recognized no-hitters of fewer than nine innings or where the first hit had been allowed in extra innings to be stricken from the official record books. Games lost by the visiting team in innings but without allowing any hits do not qualify as no-hitters, as the visiting team has only pitched eight innings.
Frequency
MLB has recognized 322 no-hitters thrown since 1876, 24 of which were perfect games. Two no-hitters have been thrown on the same day twice: Ted Breitenstein and Jim Hughes on April 22, 1898; and Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela on June 29, 1990.
Nine no-hitters were thrown in the 2021 season. The previous record was eight, set in 1884. The previous modern era record (since 1901) was seven, accomplished in 1990, 1991, 2012, and 2015.
The longest period between two no-hitters in the modern era is three years and 44 days, between Bobby Burke on August 8, 1931, and Paul "Daffy" Dean on September 21, 1934. There was a drought of three years and 11 months without a no-hitter after the first National League no-hitter on July 15, 1876, pitched by George Bradley. The most recent year without any no-hitters is 2005.
The greatest span of games without a no-hitter in the major leagues is 6,364, between Randy Johnson's perfect game on May 18, 2004, for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Aníbal Sánchez's no-hitter on September 6, 2006, for the Florida Marlins. The previous record was a 4,015-game streak without a no-hitter from September 30, 1984, to September 19, 1986.