Yankees' James Paxton fondly recalls his no-hitter at Rogers Centre last season with Mariners

TORONTO — James Paxton should be able to improve on his previous outing — in terms of length — when he threw four scoreless innings Wednesday against the Padres in his first start after a stint on the injured list.  

But the 30-year-old lefthander is unlikely to improve upon what he did the last time he took the mound at Rogers Centre.

That was May 8 of last season when, as a Seattle Mariner, he threw a no-hitter.

Paxton was the primary star of the 2 hour, 19-minute sprint, a 5-0 Mariners victory over the Blue Jays and Long Island’s Marcus Stroman, a game in which he struck out seven and walked three. He threw 99 pitches, 64 strikes.

Warming up that night in the bullpen — and early on in the game — Paxton said he didn’t feel like a pitcher who was going to add an historic achievement to his resume.

“I did not feel great at all going into that game,” Paxton said. “The first four innings, I didn’t even realize I hadn’t given up a hit because I had walked a few guys and I was kind of having a hard time locking it in with my location.”

That changed, he said around the fifth.

“I started locating the ball better,” he said. “But, still, at that point, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Over a year later, Paxton credits the defense behind him first and foremost for accomplishment.  “They made every play they had to make,” he said.

And it was only after one of those, a diving stop by third baseman Kyle Seager on a 109 mph ground smash hit by Kevin Pillar did Paxton start thinking no-hitter.

“That’s when I said to myself, ‘Oh man, I have to get this thing done now,’” Paxton said. “The last two innings I was very aware of what was going on. I was out there thinking, ‘this is crazy. A chance to throw a no-hitter in the big leagues.’ I was just letting it rip.”

He recalled throwing “all fastballs in the ninth inning,” the last two 99-mph heaters to Josh Donaldson, who hit the second one to Seager on the ground to end it.

“It was just everything I had left in the tank, just let it eat,” Paxton said. “It worked out.”

Paxton, a native of Canada who was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2009 but didn’t sign until the Mariners drafted him a year later, said the response of the fans that night made things even more memorable.

“It was really special to do it in Canada,” said Paxton, whose nickname is “The Big Maple” and who has a tattoo of a maple leaf on his right forearm. “Partly because it was on TV back home, because all of the Blue Jays games pretty much are on TV back in Vancouver, and I knew I had a bunch of friends and family watching.

"And I had a cousin at the game and he was telling me after that the Blue Jays fans were kind of cheering against me until about the eighth inning and then they started cheering for me. And he said he kind of felt that switch in the crowd and how cool that was to be a part of. And being able to get that appreciation from the Canadian fans after the game and kind of show them my tattoo. It was a special day for sure.” 

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.