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MLB Moved by Angels' No-Hitter As Players Pay Tribute to Tyler Skaggs

Every player on the Angels wore No. 45 in honor of their fallen teammate last night.

Emily Caron

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In their first home game since pitcher Tyler Skaggs' passing on July 1, the Angels threw a combined no-hitter in Anaheim vs. Seattle. It was the first combined no-no in California since Orioles at A’s on July 13, 1991, the same day Skaggs was born, according to STATS.

Before his teammates, Taylor Cole and Felix Pena, took the mound–both wearing Skaggs' No. 45 along with the rest of their team–the former Los Angeles ace’s mom threw a perfect strike on the first pitch of the game. 

Mike Trout then blasted a first-pitch fastball for a home run, launching the ball a fitting 454 feet over the centerfield fence. The two-time MVP noted after the game that the Angels scored seven runs in the first and finished with 13 runs.

"Tyler’s birthday is 7/13. Tomorrow,” Trout said, per assembled media. "They'd tell you to rewrite this script to make it more believable if you turned this in."

He continued: "I'm speechless. This is the best way to honor him."

Cole and Pena finished the night having faced–and held hitless–28 batters. Saturday morning would have marked Skaggs' 28th birthday. The 13–0 victory stood as the 11th no-hitter in Angels history and the first since Jered Weaver blanked the Twins on May 2, 2012. 

"This is all for him," Pena said in Spanish during an interview after the game. "I feel like we have an angel looking down on us."

Skaggs' teammates, Angels fans and players throughout MLB alike were moved by the no-hitter.

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Emily Caron
EMILY CARON

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