Tides Throw Combined No-Hitter

McDermott, Hoffman, and Ort blank Nashville Sounds 2-0

*Cover Photo: Kate Kirsch

On Friday, the Norfolk Tides blanked the Nashville Sounds 2-0. You could easily hand the player of the game award to three separate pitchers who came together and shut down the Sounds offense completely.

Enter Chayce McDermott, Nolan Hoffman, and Kaleb Ort. The three of them combined for the Tides' seventh overall no-hitter.

O's No. 8 prospect Chayce McDermott tossed 6.2 innings in the combined no-hitter last Friday. Photo: Kate Kirsch

Ironically, this is the second no-no that McDermott and Hoffman have been a part of together, as they helped the Baysox toss a combined no-hitter on May 18, 2023 against the Altoona Curve. Lefty and former Orioles farmhand Easton Lucas assisted McDermott and Hoffman that time.

A big chunk of the effort came from McDermott, the Orioles' No. 8 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He went 6.2 innings while striking out a swift 11 batters and walking just two. The highlights show McDermott mixing up his fastball, changeup, and slider very well, dotting up Maverick Handley's targets on the corners and throwing Nashville batters off balance all night long. Six of his strikeouts were swinging, and five were looking.

McDermott has now lowered his ERA to 2.89, and he has 41 punchouts this season.

Hoffman, 6'4" sidearm slinger, relieved McDermott and went 1.1 innings while picking up 2 strikeouts. Ort, an offseason acquisition from the Phillies, finished off the no-hitter with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He got Francisco Mejia to ground out to second baseman Jackson Holliday to finish it all off.

The Tides had not seen a no-hitter since 2010 when former Orioles All-Star Chris Tillman tossed his own 9-inning masterpiece against the Gwinnett Stripers. This was certainly an electrifyin and exciting moment for the Tides, one of the many great moments in a series win at Nashville. The starting pitching has absolutely dominated for Norfolk this season. So while no-hitters are hard to duplicate, let alone accomplish to begin with, expect more exciting performances like this to occur again throughout the rest of the Tides' 2024 campaign.