Orioles pitcher David Hess was in the midst of something special on Monday. The only problem: He wasn't given the chance to complete it.
Hess — who had thrown just 82 pitches — was working on a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays before being pulled by manager Brandon Hyde, who was promptly booed by the Toronto crowd. Hess had eight strikeouts and had allowed just one baserunner — a walk — in his outing. He had thrown 42 pitches in relief on Opening Day, which is most likely why Hyde gave him the hook.
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Toronto capitalized on Hess' removal. A Justin Smoak walk was followed up by Randal Grichuk's two run home run off reliever Pedro Araujo to break up a bid at a combined no-hitter.
As expected, most Orioles fans weren't happy that Hess wasn't given a chance to finish his shot at a no-hitter.
I re-downloaded Twitter just to express how disgusted I am that Brandon Hyde took David Hess out in the middle of a no-hitter.
— Pittoo (@BradyLawrence) April 2, 2019
Wow, Orioles pull David Hess after the Tullahoma native threw 6.1 innings of no-hit baseball. Hess had 82 pitches when he was pulled. Unreal managerial decision there.
— Zach Birdsong (@ZachBirdsong) April 2, 2019
The Orioles just took out David Hess after 6 1/3 innings pitched. He had a no hitter going. DUMBEST decision I've seen since not bringing in Britton back in 2016 for the Wild Card. Two batters later the no hitter is gone and it's 6-2 O's. I'm heated.
— Caleb Jones (@calebjones_43) April 2, 2019
@Orioles how are y’all taking David Hess out of the game 🤔
— Micah Tataje (@MicahTataje) April 2, 2019
Hess is a relative unknown on an Orioles team that doesn't have high expectations. He had a 4.88 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 103 1/3 innings for Baltimore in 2018. There will likely be many moving parts in Baltimore's makeshift rotation this season, but the righthander certainly stated his case for why he deserves a spot.
With an increased emphasis by managers on pitchers' workload — especially younger, more inexperienced ones — this probably won't be the last time this season someone will be removed in the middle of a no-hitter. It's hard to blame Hyde, as Hess' relief appearance put him at 124 pitches in the last four days. Still, you have to wonder how much more Hess could have done if he stayed in the game.