nohitter

Nohitter is a term in baseball describing a game in which the pitcher or pitching staff does not allow the opposing team to record a hit. Officially, the defense prevents the opposing batters from obtaining any hits over the course of the game. In professional play, a nohitter is normally nine innings long; if the game goes into extra innings, a no-hit game continues to be a nohitter as long as no hits are allowed. A combined nohitter is achieved when two or more pitchers cooperate to hold the opposition hitless.

A nohitter is different from a perfect game. In a perfect game, no batter reaches base at all, through hits, walks, hit by pitch, or error; in a nohitter, baserunners may reach by walks, hit by pitch, errors, or other means as long as no hits are recorded. Because of this, a team can score without recording a hit.

Nohitters are relatively rare and are celebrated events in baseball history. They occur most commonly in Major League Baseball but can also occur in other professional and amateur levels. No-hitters can be thrown by a single pitcher or — in some cases — by a combination of pitchers who collectively do not allow a hit. They have a long history in the sport and are part of discussions of pitching achievement and game strategy.