What is a No-Hitter? Definition and Examples
A no-hitter is a complete game in which a pitcher or combination of pitchers allows the opposing team zero hits over at least nine innings.
What Is a No-Hitter in Baseball?
A no-hitter is a game in which a team's pitching staff records every out without surrendering a single hit across a complete game of at least nine innings. The defining word is *hits*. A pitcher throwing a no-hitter is allowed to issue walks, hit batters, throw wild pitches, and watch his fielders boot routine grounders for errors — base runners can and do appear. What cannot happen is a batted ball (or any official at-bat result) being scored as a hit. If even one clean single drops in, the no-hitter is over. It is one of the rarest individual achievements in the sport: through 2024, only a little over 320 official no-hitters have been thrown in more than 150 years of MLB history.
How a No-Hitter Is Defined and Scored
The official criteria are set by MLB's rulebook (Rule 9.23):
- The game must last a minimum of nine innings (a pitcher who allows no hits over eight innings of a home win that ends early does not qualify).
- The team being no-hit must record zero hits, as judged by the official scorer.
- The no-hitting team must win — you cannot throw a no-hitter in a loss in a completed nine-inning game.
Crucially, a no-hitter can be combined: two or more pitchers can collectively complete it, which has become more common in the bullpen era. A no-hitter is *not* the same as a perfect game. A perfect game requires that no batter reach base at all — no hits, no walks, no errors, no hit-by-pitches — 27 up, 27 down. Every perfect game is a no-hitter; very few no-hitters are perfect.
Worked Example
On April 1, 2024, Houston Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays in a 10–0 win. Over nine innings he threw 105 pitches, struck out seven, and allowed zero hits. He did walk two batters — meaning two Blue Jays reached base — so the game was a no-hitter but not a perfect game. Had either of those free passes instead been a clean single, Blanco would have settled for a one-hit shutout and the no-no would never have entered the record books. The two base runners are exactly what separates a standard no-hitter from perfection.
Why It Matters
No-hitters are milestone events that drive Cy Young narratives, ticket demand, and franchise lore. For evaluation, a no-hitter pairs naturally with Game Score, which often exceeds 90 for these starts. For fantasy and DFS, no-hit bids translate into elite single-game pitching points (strikeouts plus the shutout floor). They are also a useful reminder that suppressing hits — not base runners broadly — is the pitcher's core job.
Limitations and Common Misconceptions
A no-hitter measures one game, not skill durability — journeyman pitchers throw them and aces go careers without one. The biggest misconception is conflating it with a perfect game: a no-hitter with five walks is still a no-hitter. Another is assuming the pitcher "dominated." Because errors and walks are allowed, a no-hitter can be messy, and metrics like WHIP for that single game can still reflect base runners allowed. Finally, a combined no-hitter is fully official even though no individual went the distance.
Related Terms
In Legends Deck: a pitcher card that throws a no-hitter in simulation triggers a milestone badge and a temporary stamina/control rating boost, rewarding the hit-suppression profile (high whiff, low hard-contact) that makes no-hitters possible in the underlying Statcast model.