ANAHEIM, Calif. — Los Angeles Angels starter Reid Detmers became the first pitcher in seven years with a no-hitter and a flawless inning in the same season, the latter of which he achieved against the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
The Rangers equaled the 1979 San Francisco Giants as the only lineup to have three clean innings against them in a season. Houston hit two clean innings in the same June 15 game against Texas.
Detmers, who fielded a no-hitter against Tampa Bay on May 10, hit three Texas hitters on nine pitches in the second inning for the 109th spotless inning in baseball history.
However, the Angels couldn’t build on his momentum. Ezequiel Duran hit a three-run double in the ninth inning as Rangers won 5-2. Texas took three of four from the Angels and went 5-6 on their 11-game road trip at their season-high.
Detmers ended his day after seven innings in which he had a career-high 12 and allowed two runs on three hits, one of which was earned. In the fourth, the left-hander beat out Duran, Kole Calhoun and Charlie Culberson in a clean fourth inning at the majors this year.
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Rangers became the first team to have this happen twice in the same game, when Astros starter Luis Garcia retired the team in the second inning and reliever Phil Maton did it in the seventh on June 15.
Duran was one of the batters in all three against the Rangers, a first according to MLB.com.
Detmers has been fighting since his no-hitter. He was sent to Triple-A Salt Lake for a few weeks before being recalled.
Before Detmers, Houston’s Mike Fiers was the last in 2015 to make the flawless/no-hitter double in the same year.
It’s only the third clean inning in Angels history, with all three occurring in the second inning. Nolan Ryan was the first on July 9, 1972 against Boston, and Garrett Richards equaled it on June 4, 2014 in Houston.
Spotless innings remain special, but are not as rare as they used to be. This is the 10th since 2020 and the 61st since 2000. None were recorded from 1929 to ’52.