Sean Manaea pitches no-hitter as Oakland A's beat Boston Red Sox
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 22/04/18 10:20am
Sean Manaea threw the first no-hitter of the 2018 Major League Baseball season as the Oakland A's blanked the Boston Red Sox 3-0.
Left-hander Manaea struck out 10 Red Sox batters in his career-best performance, which included two walks and a deal of controversy.
That controversy came in the top of the sixth inning when Boston outfielder Andrew Benintendi appeared to reach first base on a ground ball to the right, but he was eventually adjudged to have run into foul territory in trying to avoid Matt Olson's tag.
The initial decision of safe was reversed by umpires after an appeal and a fuming Benintendi said after the game: "It's just a missed call."
Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon also reached first in the bottom of the fifth but it was judged to have come on an error by shortstop Marcus Semien, who provided one of Oakland's three runs with the game's only homer.
Manaea's feat was all the more impressive given Boston's red-hot start to the season, with the defeat only their third in 20 games.
The Red Sox also boasted the second longest streak in MLB without surrendering a no-hitter, dating back 3,987 games to 1993 - the longest streak belongs to Oakland (4,242 games).
Manaea said: "I just kept telling myself, keep everything the same, and not let anything get too big for me.
"My heart was beating out of my chest, and I was trying to do everything I could [to stay calm]."
