It started with a perfect pitch from the mother of the late Tyler Skaggs. Friday night's game between the Anaheim Angels and Seattle Mariners nearly ended with a perfect game.
Mike Trout hit a 454-foot home run to cap a seven-run first inning, and Tyler Cole and Felix Pena combined for a no-hitter to lead the Angels to a 13-0 victory in the team's first home game since Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in Texas on July 1, ESPN reported.
"That was one of the most special moments I have been a part of on a Major League field, 25 years," manager Brad Ausmus told reporters after the game. "Just the way the game went, and culminating with a no-hitter. You feel like it's partly Skaggy's no-hitter."
"Now we have an angel taking care of us in heaven," Pena said, according to Bleacher Report.
The Angels honored Skaggs by wearing his uniform No. 45 and his last name on their jerseys, the Los Angeles Times reported. Skaggs' mother, Debbie Hetman, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, the newspaper reported.
Before Friday night's game, the Angels paid tribute to Skaggs with LED ribbon boards that read "Tyler Skaggs, 1991-2019," KTLA reported. There was an image of the late pitcher on the center-field wall, preparing to throw a pitch, the television station reported.
The Angels also played a minute-long tribute video and held a 45-second moment of silence, KTLA reported.
Cole was perfect through the first two innings and Pena went the final seven, allowing only a fifth-inning walk, ESPN reported.
After the game, Angels players took off their Skaggs jerseys and placed them on the pitching mound.
The last no-hitter thrown by an Angel pitcher was May 2, 2012, when Jared Weaver blanked the Minnesota Twins, 9-0. It was the second combined no-hitter in franchise history. Mark Langston and Mike Witt pitched a 1-0 gem -- also against Seattle -- on April 11, 1990, according to MLB.com.
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