Los Angeles Angels players all wore No. 45 Friday night in honor of former teammate Tyler Skaggs, who died July 1. Photo by
Angels/Twitter
July 13 (UPI) -- In the Angels' first home game since teammate Tyler Skaggs unexpectedly died July 1, Los Angeles Angels pitchers Taylor Cole and Felix Pena combined to throw the 11th no-hitter in franchise history Friday night.
After a pregame ceremony featuring his mother, Debbie, throwing a perfect ceremonial first pitch, the Angels dominated the Mariners 13-0 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Cole served as the opener and threw two scoreless innings before Pena pitched seven innings of six-strikeout ball.
Omar Narvaez's fifth-inning walk was Pena's only blemish. The no-hitter was completed only hours before what would have been Skaggs' 28th birthday.
"That was one of the most special moments I have been a part of on a Major League field, 25 years," manager Brad Ausmus said. "Just the way the game went, and culminating with a no-hitter. You feel like it's partly Skaggy's no-hitter."
All Angels coaches and players -- and some of the Fox Sports West broadcasters -- wore Skaggs' No. 45 jersey. The players laid the jerseys on the pitching mound when the game ended.
Skaggs was born on July 13, 1991. Coincidentally, that was the last time there was a combined no-hitter in the state of California: a 2-0 win by the Baltimore Orioles over the Oakland Athletics.
Angels All-Star center fielder Mike Trout's two-run, first-inning home run traveled exactly 454 feet. The Angels pitched the franchise's 11th no-hitter on the night they honored Skaggs, who wore No. 11 in high school.
"If that doesn't give you chills or that doesn't make you put life in perspective, I don't know if you have a heartbeat," said Mariners designated hitter Dan Vogelbach. "You start thinking about all the people that were affected by that situation, and especially you watch his mom and family walk out there.
"So hats off to them and prayers for them, because I couldn't imagine going through what they go through."
