New York Yankees starting pitcher Corey Kluber throws to a...

New York Yankees starting pitcher Corey Kluber throws to a Texas Rangers batter during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) Credit: AP/Tony Gutierrez

It doesn’t just feel like someone is throwing a no-hitter every day this season.

For the past two nights, that’s what actually happened.

When Corey Kluber no-hit the Rangers Wednesday at Globe Life Field, he was the first pitcher to accomplish the feat since the Tigers’ Spencer Turnbull did it to the Mariners less than 24 hours earlier in Seattle (it was still Tuesday in the Pacific Northwest).

Kluber’s no-hitter also was the sixth (!!!) of this very young season -- No. 7 for those who count Madison Bumgarner’s unofficial seven-inning gem -- and that’s the most-ever before the end of May. We’re now averaging nearly one a week, and MLB already is one shy of the single-season record for the Modern Era. Two if you go all the way back to 1884.

At this skyrocketing pace, there’s little doubt we’ll get there. Maybe before Memorial Day. But the fact no-hitters have suddenly become more common than belting a triple -- Tyler Wade did that, too, in Wednesday’s 2-0 Yankees’ win -- that shouldn’t detract at all from Kluber’s special night, for a number of reasons.

Kluber, 35, is a two-time Cy Young winner, but had never made it past the seventh inning with a no-hit bid intact. On Wednesday, the Rangers were hopeless against him, and Kluber was so efficient -- needing only 101 pitches, despite nine Ks -- that it seemed as if he could go another nine innings without surrendering a hit. In this high-velocity era, Kluber’s max fastball was a modest 92.5 mph, slighly lower than the league average (92.8).

The only blemish was a four-pitch walk to Charlie Culberson with one out in the third inning. From there, Kluber induced so much soft contact the Rangers could have been hitting with rolled-up newspapers. This also was the same mound where Kluber -- then a Ranger himself -- had his season ended a year ago on Opening Day after throwing only 18 pitches because a torn shoulder muscle (Texas handed out leftover Kluber bobbleheads before Wednesday’s game).

Over the previous two seasons, Kluber only pitched a total of 36 innings (seven starts) due to injuries, which is primarily the reason why the Yankees were able to sign him to one-year, $11-million contract this winter. While GM Brian Cashman had faith in him, it was logical to wonder what Kluber had left to offer. Nobody is going to be asking those questions anymore.

"I think it was probably cool for me personally that it happened here," Kluber said. "I hadn’t thought about it until after the game, when Robbie Chirinos (former Ranger now on Yankees’ taxi squad) came up to me and said, ‘Congratulations -- a lot better than the last time you were on the mound here.’"

Kluber isn’t known for expressing much in the way of feelings. He has the nickname "Klubot" for a reason. But if there was a time to get sentimental, after everything that he’d been through the past couple of years, this would be it. Despite his buttoned-up postgame reaction, Kluber’s joy was evident after the final out -- secured when Gleyber Torres fielded Willie Calhoun’s routine grounder and flicked a throw to Luke Voit. The Yankees mobbed him at the mound, shaking water bottles on his head as Kluber broke into a wide smile. Afterward, they showered him with beer in the clubhouse.

"To be on the team and see Corey go out there and spin that, it truly was a privilege," manager Aaron Boone said. "I had butterflies in that ninth inning, I’m getting a little emotional now. It was really special to see his teammates and everyone’s excitement for Corey ... Man, what a performance. I’m just so happy for him. He’s such a pro. We’re talking about a guy that’s been an amazing pitcher in his career and now he’s got another defining and special moment."

Kluber’s personal achievement also was a surprise gift for the storied Yankees’ franchise, as it was their first no-hitter (12th overall) since David Cone’s perfect game against the Expos on July 18, 1999 in the Bronx. That was the eighth-longest drought by any team, and a 21-year stretch that seems ridiculous in retrospect with the great pitchers that put on pinstripes during that period. Kluber delivered a no-hitter in just his ninth start for the Yankees.

"I think there’s a lot of variables that go into throwing a no-hitter," Kluber said. "I think there’s a lot of things that have to go your way, so I guess it’s definitely cool to do it in this uniform. I don’t want to take away from that at all."

There’s nothing that should. Kluber was masterful in dominating the Rangers. And who knows? Judging by his brilliance, and this being 2021, maybe he’ll throw another one before too long.

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