Skip to main content

Changing his tune

Somehow, despite being one of the best pitchers of his generation, Zack Greinke has never thrown a no-hitter. He wasn’t particularly interested in throwing one, either.

Back in June, before the Diamondbacks traded him to Houston, Grienke was asked if he was disappointed after his no-hit bid was broken up in the ninth.

“It’d probably be more of a hassle than anything,” he told reporters. “A bunch of nonsense comes with it. I don’t think about no-hitters, ever.”

Well, Greinke came even closer to throwing a no-hitter last night in Seattle. He was incredibly dominant through the first eight innings before a line drive from Austin Nola dropped in front of a diving Jake Marisnick.

The look on Greinke’s face after the ball hit the ground was impossible to parse. He wasn’t disappointed, he wasn’t relieved. He just appeared to be thinking “That is a hit.”

But Greinke did concede after the game that it would have been neat to accomplish something that has only been done 303 times before.

“There is some hassle to it, but I think I would have liked to have done it,” Greinke said.

“It would have been nice,” he added. “Felt good out there and then the last couple of innings I guess might not have been as sharp there.”

Clearly you can tell he was very emotional.

The best of SI

Gardner Minshew has exactly what it takes to capture NFL fans’ attention. ... The Brewers clinched a playoff spot, despite everyone declaring them dead when Christian Yelich was injured. ... Is Jay Gruden’s time in Washington nearing an end?

Around the sports world

Three current NFL players hail from the same town of 300 people in Mississippi. ... A kid who went viral for scoring a touchdown during Nebraska’s spring game as he battled cancer is now playing football for real. ... A 16-year-old high school football player in Ohio saved his neighbor’s life by lifting a car off of the man’s chest. ... Columbia shut down its farcical marching band. ... A college football ref in Maine had to be hospitalized after he was shot by a cannon on the sideline.

Baker Mayfield is so good at trash talk

It’s so refreshing to see a football coach be human

Either the players are really slow or the ref is Usain Bolt

Chris Wondolowski sat in the stands because he was suspended

That shouldn’t be possible

Bob Uecker is still going strong

Minshew is definitely drinking the mystery punch at the party

You have to admit it was a good joke, though

When you get traded the day before

Trojans fans are weeping

That’s actually pretty funny

Justin Fields has barely visited Ohio State

Not sports

An Austrian couple inadvertently received a shipment of $550,000 worth of ecstasy pills. ... The creator of labradoodles now says he regrets pioneering the breed. ... An Israeli woman was hospitalized after she ate a bunch of wasabi mistaking it for avocado. ... Showtime is doing a serialized reboot of the movie The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Amazon gets more and more dystopian every day

Octopus changes color while dreaming

What is this guy doing?

A good song

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.