The Red Sox were red-hot, but it didn't stop Sean Manaea from twirling a no-hitter

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sean Manaea throws against a Boston Red Sox batter in the first inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Saturday, April 21, 2018. (AP Photo/John Hefti)(John Hefti/AP)

By Andrew Mearns

April 22, 2018

History was made on Saturday night in Oakland, as starterSean Manaea became just the 12th pitcher in A's history to throw a no-hitter. The feat alone would have been an accomplishment anyway, regardless of Manaea's opponent. What made it special, though, is that it came against a ridiculously hot Red Sox team.
Merely a day prior, the Red Sox looked unstoppable. They quickly rallied from down 3-0 on Friday night to score seven unanswered runs in a7-3 win. It was their eighth win in a row and it moved them to 17-2 on the season -- the best start since the 1987 Brewers and a mark matched byjust four other teams in the live-ball era.
Unsurprisingly, the Red Sox offense has played a big role in their terrific start. Entering play on Saturday, they led the Majors in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage with a .293/.361/.497 batting line.Mookie Betts was a wrecking crew on his own, leading the American League in average and slugging and belting three homers in one game as recently as Tuesday:

On Saturday, however, Betts went 0-for-3 against Manaea and none of his teammates fared any better. Hard-hitting teammateRafael Devers found himself swinging at air:

Even when given a second look at Manaea, Devers and company had no answer:

It was frustrating, to be sure.
The Red Sox had not been no-hitin 25 years, so by the later innings, the Red Sox Twitter account had taken to trying to jinx Manaea out of his no-hitter:

NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER. NO HITTER.https://t.co/hdPQYtYRZM
— Red Sox (@RedSox)April 22, 2018

Despite the team's best efforts, Manaea finished his no-no. No team inbaseball history ever had a better record at the time it was no-hit than the 17-2 Red Sox.
Hanley Ramirez grounded out for the finishing blow, and even he had to tip his cap to Manaea after the game: