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Alec Mills Throws No-Hitter vs Brewers

Alec Mills

Alec Mills has cemented himself into history after throwing a no-hitter versus the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Mills is just the sixteenth Chicago Cubs‘ pitcher to toss a no-hitter. He had five strikeouts and three walks with 114 pitches thrown. It is just the second no-hitter of the season. Chicago White Sox ace Lucas Giolito had the other against the Pittsburgh Pirates. This is the first time both Chicago teams have had no-hitters in the same season.

Mills Gets Run Support

The 28-year old right-hander was able to be extremely aggressive on the mound. He worked quickly each inning and maintained a great tempo. A big reason for that: the Cubs bats came to play. They broke the game wide open in the fourth inning and didn’t look back. Jason Heyward stayed hot and began the scoring with a double. There were plenty of quality at-bats to follow against the struggling Adrian Houser. Chicago put up five runs in the fourth inning and added four more in the fifth. The game ended with a final of 12-0.

After an offensive explosion, Alec Mills was able to settle down and just execute his pitches. Nobody knows how important that was more than current manager David Ross — who actually caught for Jake Arrieta in the Cubs’ last no-hitter. With the game all but decided, Mills attacked hitters and forced them to put the ball into play. Milwaukee consistently made weak contact because Mills was hitting his spots to perfection. It was yet another stellar performance by a much improved 2020 starting rotation.

From Walk-On to No-Hitter

Alec Mills was never a top prospect, in fact, he wasn’t even on most MLB teams radar. He was selected in the 22nd round of the 2012 draft. At age 24, he made his debut in the majors for the Kansas City Royals. Mills played three games for them before eventually finding his way to Chicago. As a Cub, he has been nothing but impressive. He has now solidified himself in the rotation, where many people didn’t even picture him at the beginning of the year. Jose Quintana suffered a freak injury prior to the season, which gave Mills a shot to get extended starts early on, and he’s made the most of this opportunity.

https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1305260255165796352?s=20

Crazy enough, Mills had to walk on to the baseball team at the University of Tennessee at Martin in college. Through hard work, he went from a relief pitcher to the pitching staff’s ace. His journey to this point in his career could be the plot for a good movie. Chicago’s season has seen a three-hit shutout by Kyle Hendricks and an NL Cy-Young caliber season from Yu Darvish, But this performance will be the one remembered for years to come. Anybody that loves baseball can appreciate this fantastic story. It promotes a message of perseverance. Mills relayed that by saying “Everything happens for a reason, and I wouldn’t change any of it. I think being a walk-on made me who I am today.” He followed that up by saying “Never give up,” to anybody who may be struggling and doubting themselves, much like he was at one point.

Playoff Bound Cubs

Alec Mills now has a record of 5-3 on the season. More importantly, the Cubs have improved to 28-20. With 12 games remaining, they have a healthy four-game lead in first place of the NL Central. It appears the team is heading to the playoffs, after merely missing the postseason in 2019. Chicago will be hoping for more performances like this down the stretch, but they certainly don’t come around often.

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Noah Barnhart

Noah Barnhart

A college student, aspiring to be a sports writer. I write about all things MLB, and specifically the Chicago Cubs. Follow my Instagram and Twitter @barnhart_22.

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