TORONTO - One of the most important people in Sean Manaea's life nearly slept through his first no-hitter.
"My girlfriend was in Mexico at the time," Manaea told theScore. "She was taking a nap after the fifth inning and her friends came in and were like 'you should probably wake up and watch this right now.'"
She would awaken just in time, as Manaea became the 12th Oakland Athletics pitcher to throw a no-hitter back on April 21 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and the first to do it against the Boston Red Sox since 1993.
Still wearing a smile almost a month later in the visiting clubhouse at Rogers Centre on Thursday, Manaea reflected on his historic day.
'I got close in college'
Manaea achieved plenty of success at the lower levels. He was a first-round pick of the Kansas City Royals in 2013, cracked numerous top prospect lists, and was the centerpiece of a 2015 trade that sent him to Oakland for two-time All-Star Ben Zobrist.
Despite everything he had accomplished, a no-hitter - at any level - wasn't on the list.
"I got close in college in the Cape (Cod League)," Manaea said of his 2012 season with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. "I threw it against Brewster, who had Ryon Healy and Aaron Judge, but it got broken up in the eighth. Judge actually broke it up."
Manaea tossed eight shutout innings that day in August, striking out 10 in what was his final start of that summer.
'An average bullpen, wasn't anything special'
The afternoon of Manaea's no-hitter certainly didn't initially hold expectations of such a performance. He had begun the season strongly, posting a 1.63 ERA over his first four starts, but the MLB-best Red Sox arrived in town having won 18 of 20 games. Manaea had never thrown a complete game in his three years in the majors, and Boston had punished him historically.
"It was an average bullpen, wasn't anything special," Manaea said of how he felt coming into the start that day. "I didn't really think I had anything that crazy special."
Manaea would admit to reporters after the final out that he didn't realize he had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning, believing a Marcus Semien error earlier was ruled a hit.
His batterymate Jonathan Lucroy was well aware, though.
"About the seventh inning, I started realizing this is getting serious," Lucroy told theScore. "It's (the) human reaction to feel a little anxious, but I just kept trusting whatever I was feeling with my pitch calling."
The importance Lucroy played in the no-hitter was not lost on Manaea. Working together for just the third regular-season game, the young left-hander trusted in the veteran catcher's game plan.
"I didn't shake him off once," Manaea said. "I remember specifically there would be multiple times where I'd be like 'OK, I threw a fastball away, let's go (with a) slider on the other side,' and he'd be right there with me. That connection that we had was on point that night."
Lucroy added: "I do a lot of video work, I do a lot of research. I break everybody down. I'm very prepared mentally to call a game and I know what I'm doing when I put my fingers down. It means a lot when they don't shake me off."
'It was kind of surreal how silent it was'
The final out came off the bat of Hanley Ramirez. A ground ball to shortstop Semien was tossed to second baseman Jed Lowrie for the force out to end the game. Manaea threw his hands in the air and was immediately embraced by Lucroy before the rest of their teammates joined in.
"I saw the play happen and then I turned around and (Lucroy) was right there on me," Manaea said. "We hugged and I don't remember what I said, just screaming with 25 guys around me. I don't really remember anything that was said but I remember when I was in the middle of the dog pile it was complete silence. It was kind of surreal how silent it was. No noise or anything, just silence."
'Too many messages to count'
After the hugs, shaving cream, and Gatorade showers, Manaea finally made it back to his locker in the clubhouse and was bombarded with messages.
"There were so many things. So many missed texts, calls, and messages on social media," he said. "It took me awhile to get back to everyone. On social media, it was too many messages to count. There were at least 300 texts. I've obviously never had that before. That was pretty crazy. Friends back home, family members."
Manaea's first call was to his parents in Florida.
"I talked to them real quick," he said. "They were super excited and proud. My parents watch everything, they have the package and record every game. By the time I called them they were already rewatching the game. They couldn't keep the smile off their face."
'That's not going anywhere'
There certainly was a time for reflection, but now, almost a month since what will likely be the best start of Manaea's career, he's ready to move on.
"That's something that I can look back at when I'm 70 and say 'wow, I actually did something that cool,'" he said. "I've watched the video a bunch of times, but recently, no. To me, it's something I can watch during the offseason. There's a lot of work I have to do still and things I think I need to improve on. I've had my fun with it, had fun watching it, but it's time to move on and continue to get ready for each start."
While his focus is on the future, Manaea doesn't have to look far to see a reminder of his accomplishment, as the ball that represented the final out is close to hand.
"It's in my apartment, I kept it," he said. "That's not going anywhere."
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
