Cleveland Guardians right-hander Slade Cecconi, who hasn't been spectacular in 2025, came so close to pulling off a historic performance on the mound during Monday's series opener at Progressive Field against the Kansas City Royals. The Cleveland franchise has not produced a no-hitter since the early 1980s, and that continues to be the case after Cecconi gave up his first hit in the Royals game in the eighth inning.
Royals infielder Michael Massey dashed Cecconi's no-hit bid in that frame with a leadoff single to centerfield. Despite that setback, Cecconi stayed in the contest to finish the inning without giving up a run. He did not return to the mound after that, as the Guardians replaced him with Zak Kent, who gave up two earned runs on two hits before Cleveland closed it out for a 10-2 victory.
Cecconi nearly ended the longest no-hitter drought in the big leagues, which is also the fourth-longest ever in the history of MLB, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). The last time Cleveland had one was in 1981 when Len Barker threw a perfect game.
“It was pretty special,” Cecconi said of taking a no-hitter to the eighth inning, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. “Seeing the crowd get on their feet and hearing my walk-out song and walking off, just taking all that in in the brief few seconds that I was able to, it was pretty special.”
All in all, Cecconi tossed for eight innings, recording zero earned runs, allowing just a hit, issuing three walks and striking out three Kansas City hitters.
Cleveland now has 7,016 straight games without a no-hitter. The longest such drought ever remains that of the Philadelphia Phillies, which began in 1906 and ended in 1964, covering an incredible length of 8.944 games, according to Elias Sports (h/t Sarah Langs of MLB.com).
Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Guardians in the offseason, Cecconi carries a 6-6 record with a 4.45 ERA and 4.83 FIP through 115.1 innings and across 20 starts — tied for career-high — so far in the 2025 MLB regular season.
As for the Guardians, they are now on a four-game winning streak and sit just 2.5 games outside of the last Wild Card spot in the American League.
