Guardians starting pitcher Slade Cecconi was the latest to flirt with a no-hitter this season.

His no-hit bid was broken up in the eighth inning Monday on a single by Royals second baseman Michael Massey. Cecconi's gem becomes the most recent close call as MLB pitchers search for the first no-hitter of the season. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto came just one out away from reaching the feat Saturday and L.A. then miraculously lost to the Orioles. He pitched 8 2/3 hitless innings before Jackson Holliday broke up the bid on a home run that started the chaos.

Orioles rookie Brandon Young flirted with a perfect game last month before he let up a single and committed an error to give up both the perfect game and no-hit bid with two outs in the eighth. No pitcher has thrown a no-hitter this season amid a myriad of close calls. If that stands the case, this year would become the first MLB season with no no-hitters since 2005.

Baseball saw four no-hitters last year, which came from Ronel Blanco of the Astros, Dylan Cease of the Padres, Blake Snell as a member of the Giants and a combined no-hitter from the Cubs where Shota Imanaga threw seven innings. Bookending the no-hitless season of '05, there was just one no-hitter in '04 (Randy Johnson) and one in '06 (Aníbal Sánchez).

There's just under three weeks left before the MLB's regular season concludes on Sept. 28. Opportunities are running out to keep the streak alive, but you never know.

More MLB on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Guardians Pitcher's Close Call Reveals Shocking Stat With Zero No-Hitters This Season.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate