No, this is no April Fool's joke. In just his eighth Major League Baseball start, Ronel Blanco threw his first career no hitter. While this no hitter was his first of his career, it was also the first of the 2024 season. 

Now, throwing a no hitter is one of the most impressive things that can happen in a game besides a perfect game. What made this one even more impressive however, is that it was against one of the strongest offenses in the MLB, the Toronto Blue Jays. In their first series of the season against the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto totaled 20 runs over 4 games.

After getting swept by the Yankees at home and starting the season at 0-4, a boost of energy was needed in the Space City. Blanco did just that for the city of Houston.

Throughout the game, most of the outs came with ease. But that could only last so long, as a no sweat no hitter would be too good to be true.

With two outs to go, first baseman José Abreu made the biggest play of the game off a smoking 98mph grounder from Cavan Biggio. The former MVP laid out to back-pick the grounder and threw him out while lying on the dirt.

As one out remained, stepping into the right-handed batter's box was Silver Slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Heading into this game, Guerrero Jr. was batting .307, one of the highest averages on the Blue Jays. After reaching a 2-2 count, Blanco went to the changeup which Guerrero Jr. put wood to. After going over the glove of Blanco, reigning Gold Glove second baseman Mauricio Dubón was there to put the cherry on top to this historic night. This marks the 16th no hitter in Astros history, the most by any team in the MLB.

Houston will face off against Toronto again today at 8:10PM EST. The projected pitching matchup is LHP Framber Valdez (0-0) against RHP José Berríos (1-0).