Zach Davies and 3 relievers combine for the 17th no-hitter in Chicago Cubs history: ‘Bullpen tonight was just a reflection of what they’ve done all year’

Chicago Cubs reliever Ryan Tepera had no idea history was in progress when he entered in the seventh inning Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

Neither did lefty Andrew Chafin until he caught a glimpse of the TV broadcast in the clubhouse after he completed the eighth. A statistic on the screen caught his eye, highlighting how there already had been six no-hitters in the majors this season.

Chafin started talking about the fact with Cubs trainers as the significance clicked: “Wait a second, why would they be showing that stat at this point in the game? Oh, (bleep), I might’ve just ruined it for us.”

For Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel, a big handshake from catcher Willson Contreras after striking out Los Angeles Dodgers pinch hitter Will Smith to end the game presented the first clue.

“Tep ran out there and whispered in my ear, ‘You have no idea what happened,’ and then Javy (Báez) put me in a headlock — I knew pretty fast what had just happened,” Kimbrel said.

For the first time in franchise history, the Cubs threw a combined no-hitter.

Zach Davies tossed six shutout innings, and Tepera, Chafin and Kimbrel sealed the deal in a 4-0 victory against the Dodgers for the 17th no-hitter in Cubs history and the seventh in Major League Baseball this season in front of 52,175 fans.

The no-hitter was the Cubs’ first since Alec Mills’ on Sept. 13 against the Milwaukee Brewers. It marked the second Cubs no-hitter at Dodger Stadium, joining Jake Arrieta’s feat Aug. 30, 2015. In a strange-but-true moment, the trio of relievers revealed after the game that nobody in the Cubs bullpen knew the Dodgers remained hitless.

While it’s difficult to know whether the outcome would have changed had the trio been aware of the circumstances, “Yeah, it probably worked out for the best,” Tepera said.

Cubs manager David Ross thought Tepera knew about the no-hitter while he was on the mound because of a 3-0 slider he threw to Gavin Lux. Contreras actually called the pitch, which Tepera shook off. When the right-hander did it again, Contreras went back to the slider. It landed harmlessly down and out of the zone to complete a four-pitch walk.

“I didn’t want to groove one in there to begin with,” Tepera said, “but it’s kind of funny now.”

The location of the visitors bullpen near the right-field corner at Dodger Stadium creates a limited view of the scoreboard. The Cubs pen could see the count, number of outs and some statistics, but the hit column was obstructed. The TV in the bullpen wasn’t any help, either. It showed an overhead view of the field because of MLB’s video rules. Plus, there are no box-score features on the screen.

“And there was a lot of traffic on the bases,” Kimbrel said. “When you have a lot of traffic on the bases you don’t really get as consumed that they’re all walks. You figure, well, maybe one of them is a single or something like that. But that wasn’t the case.”

The path to the no-hitter was a bit unconventional.

The Cubs’ eight walks were the third-most in a combined no-hitter in MLB history behind the White Sox (11) on July 28, 1976, and Orioles (10) on April 30, 1967. Davies walked five in his six innings, including the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter in the third and fourth innings. But neither runner advanced to second — a nifty back-pick throw by Contreras and well-timed tag by Anthony Rizzo nabbed Mookie Betts to quickly erase the walk to open the third — and by the time Davies’ night ended, he retired the last nine Dodgers he faced.

Davies attributed his early command issues to his mechanics being out of whack. He settled down and didn’t rush his delivery to help him finish his start strong.

“Being able to place the ball inside on a lot of guys that was definitely a key,” Davies said. “Hitters try and stay out over the plate, especially because I throw a mix of fastball, curveball, changeup, cutter, so they’re looking at something over the plate that they can put in the field.”

The Cubs’ dominant bullpen fittingly closed it out. Tepera issued a two-out walk to Lux but forced Austin Barnes to line out to end the seventh. Chafin lost an eight-pitch battle against Betts, the at-bat ending in a walk — the seventh by a Cubs pitcher. Two pitches later, Chafin induced an inning-ending double play.

“The bullpen tonight was just a reflection of what they’ve done all year, coming in the game, shutting the door, hitters not really having a chance,” Davies said. “Handing the ball over knowing exactly what was going to happen for the rest of the game, I enjoyed watching it myself, paying attention to every every batter after I came out.”

Kimbrel entered in the ninth and walked Chris Taylor on four pitches before striking out Cody Bellinger, Albert Pujols and Smith to end it.

“I don’t know that I’ve been as nervous in a long time with a 4-0 lead, two outs with Craig Kimbrel on the mound than I was tonight,” Ross said. "They all needed to get a walk in just to make the heart rate go up a little bit.”

Báez hit a solo home run to center in the first inning, his 17th of the season, and Contreras added a two-run shot in the sixth, his 13th. Jake Marisnick’s RBI single in the seventh scored Jason Heyward to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead.

• Sign up for alerts on your phone, desktop and inbox to stay current with the latest news

• Sign up for our sports newsletter, delivered daily each morning