Carlos Zambrano, making his first start since Sept. 2, was on the mound for the Cubs on Sunday night, facing the Astros in a regular-season game that was forced to be moved from Houston to Milwaukee because of Hurricane Ike, and Zambrano threw the first no-hitter on a neutral field in Major League history.
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Don't be.
When it comes to no-hitters there is no normalcy for the Astros.
The Astros have now been no-hit four times in their history, and they have had 10 no-hitters thrown for them.
Only once has there been one that could be considered anything close to normal, and that was by the abnormal Larry Dierker, who later broadcast and managed Astros games, against Montreal on July 9, 1976. It was the first time the Expos had ever been no-hit. It came in Dierker's final year with the Astros, after he had twice had earlier no-hit bids disappear in the ninth inning. And during the postgame celebration that night, Houston general manager Tal Smith did tear up Dierker's contract and gave him a $2,500 raise for the 1976 season.
That, however, was mundane compared to:
Juan Marichal no-hit the Astros on June 15, 1963, needing only 89 pitches to become the first Latin-born pitcher in major-league history to throw a no-hitter.Jim Maloney no-hit the Astros on April 30, 1969 at Cincinnati, and the next day, Don Wilson threw the second no-hitter of his Astros career, marking only the second time in major league history that opposing teams no-hit each other in back-to-back games. Wilson also no-hit Atlanta on June 18, 1967. The rookie struck out five of the final six Braves, including Hank Aaron to end that game.Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon, who had been teammates in Mexico, combined on a 10-inning no-hitter for the Pirates against the Astros at Three Rivers Stadium on July 12, 1997. Cordova went nine innings, and Rincon worked the 10th. It was a night on which the Pirates had a tribute to Jackie Robinson and also a fireworks display, which resulted in a crowd of 44,119, the first non-opening day sellout for the Pirates since June 5, 1977.Don Nottebart threw the first no-hitter in Astros history on May 17, 1963 in a 4-1 victory against Philadelphia. The Phillies scored in the fifth when backup shortstop J.C. Hartman's error allowed Don Demeter to reach second base. Hartman moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Don Hoak's sacrifice fly.Ken Johnson not only gave up a run in his April 23, 1964 no-hitter against Cincinnati at Colt Stadium, but he also became the first pitcher to ever lose a no-hitter. Locked in a scoreless game into the ninth, Johnson gave up a run when, with one out, Pete Rose reached second on Johnson's throwing error, took third on a Chico Ruiz ground out, and scored when second baseman Nellie Fox booted Vada Pinson's ground out.Ken Forsch no-hit Atlanta in the Astrodome on April 7, 1979, the earliest date in major-league history for a no-hitter. Jack Morris later matched that in 1984 for Detroit against the White Sox.Nolan Ryan pitched the fifth of his record seven no-hitters in a 5-0 victory against the Dodgers on Sept. 26, 1981. Ryan had been tied for the no-hitter record of four with Koufax.Mike Scott no-hit the Giants at the Astrodome on Sept. 25, 1986, with the Astros clinching the NL West title. It's the only title-clinching no-hitter in history.Darryl Kile no-hit the Mets on Sept. 9, 1983. Kile retired the final 17 batters, but the last batter who reached base, Jeff McKnight, with one out in the fourth, scored, forcing Kile to settle for a 7-1 win. Knight drew a one-out walk, and then came a bizarre turn of events. With two outs and Joe Orsulak hitting, Kile threw a wild pitch, but catcher Scott Servais didn't chase the ball because he thought the pitch hit Orsulak. With McKnight rounding second and heading to third, first baseman Jeff Bagwell chased down the ball and made a wild throw to third that went into left field and McKnight raced home.And six Astros pitchers combined for an 8-0 no-hitter of the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 11, 2003, the most pitchers to ever combine for a no-hitter. Roy Oswalt was the starter, but came out after an inning because of a strained groin. Brad Lidge worked two innings and was credited with the victory.
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