Orioles' John Means Says He Felt 'Horrible', Didn't Sleep Well Prior To Wednesday's No-Hitter
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Orioles pitcher John Means became the third pitcher this season and the first Orioles pitcher since Jim Palmer in 1969, to throw a solo complete game no-hitter in Wednesday's 6-0 win over the Seattle Mariners. The outing was one of the best in Orioles history as Means struck out 12 hitters and missed out on a perfect game only because of a wild pitch. Yet, to hear Means tell it, he was just hoping to make it through six innings.
In an interview with Sirius XM MLB Network Radio's "MLB Roundtrip" show on Wednesday night, Means said that he was feeling "horrible" entering the game.
"I honestly felt horrible coming in. I didn't sleep well, I had like a cough and my body wasn't feeling great. I honestly wasn't feeling very good," Means said. "I was like 'well hopefully I've got five innings in me, five, six strong innings today.' But, obviously it didn't work out like that and I'm glad it didn't."
"I honestly felt horrible coming in. I didn't sleep well... my body wasn't feeling great... I was like, 'hopefully I got five or six strong innings today.'"
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) May 6, 2021
Sure, John.@Orioles SP John Means with @RobertBrender & @SteveSaxSpeaks, after his first career no-hitter: pic.twitter.com/ZunW5kRdxX
Steve Sax and Rob Brender asked Means if throwing a no hitter had fully set in yet for him after he became just the eighth pitcher in franchise history to twirl a solo no hitter.
"Not at all, not at all. I have no idea what to think about it. I'm in kind of a weird space right now. But that beer shower after the game definitely felt pretty good," Means said.
Through seven starts, Means is having the best season of his young career posting a 4-0 record with a minuscule 1.37 ERA over 46 innings pitched to go along with a 5-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio. Not bad for the former 11th round draft pick of the team out of West Virginia.