Newly-acquired Houston Astros starter Mike Fiers pitched the fifth no-hitter in the Major Leagues this season and the 11th in Astros history as he blanked the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday night at Minute Maid Park on route to a 3-0 victory.

Fiers (W: 6-9, 3.63 ERA) finished off the first complete game of his career by striking out Justin Turner to end the game. He struck out 10 Dodgers in all and faced only three batters above the minimum. He walked a man in each of the first three innings, but two force outs kept the Dodgers from putting a man on second base. Fiers was perfect from the fourth inning on. 

Fiers had never pitched in the ninth inning in his seven-year Major League career, and he threw a career-high 134 pitches.

MLB Network's Heidi Watney announced during Friday night's edition of Quick Pitch that Fiers is the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter after changing teams mid-season since Jim Bibby did so for the Texas Rangers in 1973. Fiers joined the Astros on July 30 along with Carlos Gomez  via trade from the Milwaukee Brewers.

MLB.com's Brian McTaggart and Chandler Rome quoted Astros manager A.J. Hinch discussing Fiers and the accolades the new Astros pitcher gets from his colleagues. Said Hinch,

"He's a big leaguer, man. This guy's a really good pitcher. He might be unheralded and he might be under the radar or he might not be a household name, but you talk around the league and he's got plenty of double-digit punch-out games. He's been very, very effective the last couple of years."

Fiers discussed the no-hitter himself: 

"I was a little shaky in the first three innings, but I was able to get it together and stop walking guys and start going after guys and throwing the right pitches. But you don't think, 'OK, this is a game I can throw a no-hitter.' I don't take any game for granted. At any time guys can put a bunch of hits together and put you out of the game, so you've got to bear down on every hitter."

Fiers got his run support from two Astros home runs. Right fielder Jake Marisnick blasted a two-run shot (6) over the left-center-field wall with Chris Carter aboard in the bottom of the second (video), and Evan Gattis (19) homered into the Crawford boxes in the sixth (video). 

Brett Anderson (L: 7-8, 3.52) pitched a quality start in taking the loss. In six innings, he allowed three runs on seven hits, including both home runs. He walked no one and struck out five. 

With the win, the Astros opened up their lead in the A.L. West to 3.5 games over the Los Angeles Angels, who lost Friday night. The Astros and Angels have six games left with each other, three in each ball park in September.

The Dodgers' lead in the N.L. West shrinks to 1.5 games over the San Francisco Giants, who won Friday night. The Dodgers and Giants face off seven more times with the first series beginning August 31 at Chavez Ravine.

On Saturday, Zack Greinke (13-2, 1.58) pitches for the Dodgers while Scott Kazmir (6-8, 2.43) takes the mound for Houston. The game begins at 7:10 p.m. EDT.

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About the author
Raymond Bureau
Raymond became a baseball fan at a very young age. He played baseball through high school and soon after became a varsity coach. He is now the P.A. announcer at his high school where he teaches. Raymond previously produced radio sports talk shows and hosted a weekly MLB radio call-in show. His favorite teams are the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. Raymond is a devoted husband, father, and Christ follower. His life verses are Philippians 4:13, John 14:6, and Isaiah 41:10.