Zach Davies, Cubs throw first combined no-hitter in franchise history in win vs. Dodgers
Though he didn’t get the full game, Zach Davies and the Chicago Cubs officially recorded the seventh no-hitter of the season on Thursday night in Los Angeles.
The Cubs threw a combined no-hitter in their 4-0 win over the Dodgers on Thursday, marking the first combined no-hitter in franchise history. Davies threw six innings before relievers Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel came in to take it the rest of the way.
The no-hitter is the 17th in Cubs history, and seventh so far this season across MLB.
Craig Kimbrel finishes off the first combined no-hitter in #Cubs history!#CubTogether pic.twitter.com/Cmprbfmc6h
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 25, 2021
It marked the first time the Dodgers have been no-hit since 2015, when Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta got them. They haven’t been on the wrong side of a combined no-hitter since 2012, when the Seattle Mariners pulled that feat off.
Davies got the Cubs going with six innings at Dodger Stadium. He used 94 pitches over that timespan, though, and had five walks as the Cubs took a 3-0 lead off two home runs — one from Javier Baez in the first and another from Willson Contreras in the sixth.
Davies, though, has never thrown a complete game in his career. And, as he was nearing 100 pitches on the night, manager David Ross opted to replace him in the seventh with Tepera — who kept the no-hitter rolling after Jake Marisnick hit an RBI to put Chicago up 4-0.
Chafin then came in for the Cubs in the eighth inning and kept the combined game alive before Kimbrel came in to finish it off in the ninth. They had eight total walks in the win, which marked the third-most in a combined no-hitter in MLB history.
The Cubs' eight walks are the 3rd-most in a combined no-hitter in MLB history: White Sox on July 28, 1976 – 11; Orioles on April 30, 1967 – 10.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) June 25, 2021
There have now been seven total no-hitters so far this season across the league — or eight, if you count Madison Bumgarner’s unofficial seven-inning no-hitter — which ties the modern record for no-hitters in a single season. As it’s not yet July, there is plenty of time to hit the overall record of eight, which was done in 1884, per The Associated Press.
The Cubs have now won three of their last four. They’ll close out the four-game series with the Dodgers on Sunday before returning to the midwest for a pair of road series against the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have dropped four straight after they were swept by the San Diego Padres earlier this week.
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