List of San Francisco Giants no-hitters

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball franchise based in San Francisco, California. They play in the National League West division. Also known in their early years as the "New York Gothams" (1883–84) and "New York Giants" (1885–1957), pitchers for the Giants have thrown 14 no-hitters in franchise history. A no-hitter is officially recognized by Major League Baseball only "when a pitcher (or pitchers) retires each batter on the opposing team during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings". No-hitters of less than nine complete innings were previously recognized by the league as official; however, several rule alterations in 1991 changed the rule to its current form. A no-hitter is rare enough that only one team in Major League Baseball has never had a pitcher accomplish the feat. A perfect game, a special subcategory of no-hitter, was finally thrown by Matt Cain on June 13, 2012. As defined by Major League Baseball, "in a perfect game, no batter reaches any base during the course of the game." Previously, this feat came closest on July 4, 1908 when Hooks Wiltse was hit by a pitch with two outs in the ninth and a scoreless tie. The plate umpire, Cy Rigler, claimed he should have called the previous pitch strike three, that would have ended the inning with a perfection. Wiltse would go on to retire all three in the tenth to end the game after the Giants scored a run in the top of the tenth.

Amos Rusie threw the first no-hitter in Giants history on July 31, 1891; the most recent no-hitter was thrown by Matt Cain on June 13, 2012, which is the first and only perfect no-hitter in Giants franchise history. Five left-handed pitchers have thrown no-hitters in franchise history including the most recent lefty no-hitter by Sánchez. The other eight pitchers were right-handed, including the most recent no-hitter by Cain. The Hall of Famer Mathewson is the only pitcher to throw more than one no-hitter in a same uniform. Nine no-hitters were thrown at home and five on the road. They threw one in April, two in May, three in June, four in July, one in August, and three in September. The longest interval between no-hitters was between the games pitched by Hubbell and Juan Marichal, encompassing 34 years, 1 month, and 7 days from May 8, 1929 till June 15, 1963. Conversely, the shortest interval between no-hitters was between the games pitched by Ed Halicki and John Montefusco, encompassing merely 1 year, 1 month, and 5 days from August 24, 1975 till September 29, 1976. They no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies the most, which they no-hit them three times. The Phillies were defeated by Wiltse in 1908, Jeff Tesreau in 1912, and Jesse Barnes in 1922. None of those no-hitters which the team allowed at least a run. The most baserunners allowed in a no-hitter was by Rube Marquard (in 1915), who allowed four. Of the 14 no-hitters, four have been won by a score of 1–0, more common than any other results. The largest margin of victory in a no-hitter was a 11–0 win by Carl Hubbell in 1929. The smallest margin of victory was a 1–0 wins by Christy Mathewson in 1905, Wiltse in 1908, Juan Marichal in 1963, and Gaylord Perry in 1968. Matt Cain is tied with Sandy Koufax for the most strikeouts in a perfect no-hitter with 14. Odd fact: Matt Cain's perfect no-hitter happened exactly 107 years after Christy Mathewson's second no-hitter, both occurred on June 13.

The umpire is also an integral part of any no-hitter. The task of the umpire in a baseball game is to make any decision "which involves judgment, such as, but not limited to, whether a batted ball is fair or foul, whether a pitch is a strike or a ball, or whether a runner is safe or out… [the umpire's judgment on such matters] is final." Part of the duties of the umpire making calls at home plate includes defining the strike zone, which "is defined as that area over homeplate (sic) the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap." These calls define every baseball game and are therefore integral to the completion of any no-hitter. 13 different umpires presided over each of the franchise's 14 no-hitters.

The manager is another integral part of any no-hitter. The tasks of the manager include determining the starting rotation, the batting order and defensive lineup in every game, and how long a pitcher stays in the game. There have been eight different managers in the franchise's 14 no-hitters.

List of no-hitters in Giants history

¶	Indicates a perfect game
£	Pitcher was left-handed
*	Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

#	Date	Pitcher	Final score	Base- runners	Opponent	Catcher	Plate umpire	Manager	Notes	Ref
1	01891-07-31July 31, 1891	Rusie, AmosAmos Rusie*	70006000000000000006–0	1	Brooklyn Grooms	Clarke, ArtieArtie Clarke	Powers, PhilPhil Powers	Mutrie, JamesJames Mutrie	First no-hitter in franchise history First Giants no-hitter at home First right-handed pitcher to throw a no-hitter in franchise history
2	01901-07-15July 15, 1901	Mathewson, ChristyChristy Mathewson* (1)	70005000000000000005–0	2	@ St. Louis Cardinals	Warner, JackJack Warner	Dwyer, FrankFrank Dwyer	Davis, GeorgeGeorge Davis	First Giants no-hitter on the road First left-handed pitcher to throw a no-hitter in franchise history
3	01905-06-13June 13, 1905	Mathewson, ChristyChristy Mathewson* (2)	70001000000000000001–0	2	@ Chicago Cubs	Bresnahan, RogerRoger Bresnahan (1)	Bausewine, GeorgeGeorge Bausewine	McGraw, JohnJohn McGraw (1)	Smallest margin of victory in a Giants no-hitter (tie)
4	01908-07-04July 4, 1908£	Wiltse, HooksHooks Wiltse	70001000000000000001–0 (10)	1	Philadelphia Phillies	Bresnahan, RogerRoger Bresnahan (2)	Rigler, CyCy Rigler (1)	McGraw, JohnJohn McGraw (2)	Only baserunner was hit by pitch with two outs in the ninth Smallest margin of victory in a Giants no-hitter (tie) First left-handed pitcher to throw a no-hitter in franchise history First extra-inning no-hitter in franchise history and second in MLB history
5	01912-09-06September 6, 1912	Tesreau, JeffJeff Tesreau	70003000000000000003–0	3	@ Philadelphia Phillies	Meyers, ChiefChief Meyers (1)	Klem, BillBill Klem	McGraw, JohnJohn McGraw (3)	First game of a doubleheader
6	01915-04-15April 15, 1915	Marquard, RubeRube Marquard£	70002000000000000002–0	4	Brooklyn Robins	Meyers, ChiefChief Meyers (2)	Rigler, CyCy Rigler (2)	McGraw, JohnJohn McGraw (4)	Game 2 of season Earliest calendar date of Giants no-hitter Most baserunners allowed in a Giants no-hitter
7	01922-05-07May 7, 1922	Barnes, JesseJesse Barnes	70006000000000000006–0	1	Philadelphia Phillies	Smith, EarlEarl Smith	Hart, BobBob Hart	McGraw, JohnJohn McGraw (5)
8	01929-05-08May 8, 1929	Hubbell, CarlCarl Hubbell£*	700111000000000000011–0	1	Pittsburgh Pirates	O'Farrell, BobBob O'Farrell	Moran, CharlieCharlie Moran	McGraw, JohnJohn McGraw (6)	Largest margin of victory in a Giants no-hitter Last no-hitter before moving to San Francisco
9	01963-06-15June 15, 1963	Marichal, JuanJuan Marichal	70001000000000000001–0	2	@ Houston Colt .45s	Bailey, EdEd Bailey	Sudol, EdEd Sudol	Dark, AlAl Dark	First no-hitter since moving to San Francisco Longest interval between no-hitters in franchise history Smallest margin of victory in a Giants no-hitter (tie)
10	01968-09-17September 17, 1968	Perry, GaylordGaylord Perry	70001000000000000001–0	2	St. Louis Cardinals	Dietz, DickDick Dietz	Wendelstedt, HarryHarry Wendelstedt	Franks, HermanHerman Franks	Smallest margin of victory in a Giants no-hitter (tie) The next day at the same park, the Cardinals no-hit the Giants
11	01975-08-24August 24, 1975	Halicki, EdEd Halicki£	70006000000000000006–0	2	New York Mets	Rader, DaveDave Rader	Froemming, BruceBruce Froemming	Westrum, WesWes Westrum	Second game of a doubleheader
12	01976-09-29September 29, 1976	Montefusco, JohnJohn Montefusco	70009000000000000009–0	1	@ Atlanta Braves	Alexander, GaryGary Alexander	Pryor, PaulPaul Pryor	Rigney, BillBill Rigney	Shortest interval between no-hitters in franchise history Latest calendar date of Giants no-hitter Last no-hitter by a Giants pitcher at Candlestick Park
13	02009-07-10July 10, 2009	Sánchez, JonathanJonathan Sánchez£	70008000000000000008–0	1	San Diego Padres	Whiteside, EliEli Whiteside	Runge, BrianBrian Runge	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy (1)	First no-hitter at AT&T Park Only baserunner was reached on error with one out in the eighth
14	02012-06-13June 13, 2012	Cain, MattMatt Cain{ ¶ }	700110000000000000010–0	0	Houston Astros	Posey, BusterBuster Posey	Barrett, TedTed Barrett	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy (2)	Most recent no-hitter in franchise history First perfect game in Giants franchise history

See also

• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

Footnotes

• ^a The only team without a no-hitter in franchise history is the San Diego Padres.

External links

• San Francisco Giants official website