PHOENIX — With a World Series title on the line, and the Diamondbacks' backs against the wall, Arizona starting pitcher Zac Gallen came to play.
Gallen performed valiantly against the Texas Rangers in Game 5, and retired 18 of the first 19 Rangers batters (allowing a walk to Nathaniel Lowe in the 5th inning to break up the perfect game).
He finally gave up a hit in the seventh inning of the game, when Corey Seager hit an inning-opening single. An Evan Carter double then followed. And a Mitch Garver single up the middle then gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Then, after striking Josh Jung out, Gallen was pulled from the game. In the end, he threw 6.1 innings and struck out six.
Had he kept things up, it would have been only the third no-hitter in World Series history -- and just the fourth all-time in postseason history.
Meanwhile, Texas' Nathan Eovaldi, who started on the bump opposite Gallen, also kept the scoreboard empty through six innings, and did so by escaping multiple jams.
Below, let's dive into when the no-hitters happened before.
How many no hitters have been thrown in World Series history?
Two.
The first came in the 1959 World Series, when Don Larsen threw a perfect game against the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium. Larsen threw only 97 pitches in that game to retire all 27 batters.
The second time it has happened just last year, in 2022, when the Houston Astros pitching staff combined for a no-hitter in Game 4.
The only other postseason no-hitter was thrown in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS by Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay against the Cincinnati Reds.
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