SEATTLE — John Means threw the major leagues’ third no-hitter this season and came within a wild pitch on a third strike of a perfect game, pitching the Baltimore Orioles over the Seattle Mariners 6-0 Wednesday.

Means (4-0) struck out 12 and walked none. Seattle’s runner was Sam Haggerty after he struck out swinging on a curveball in the dirt on a 1-2 count with one outs in the third inning that bounced away from catcher Pedro Severino.

Haggerty wasn’t on base long, getting thrown out attempting to steal second.

Means threw 79 strikes among 113 pitches, including first-pitch strikes to 26 of 27 batters. When Seattle did make contact against the 28-year-old left-hander, it was weak and there were no threats to fall in for a hit.

“I cant put it into words right now. It’s unbelievable,” Means said after his first complete game in 44 career big league starts. “I felt OK all game. I didn’t really have the change-up till the end, but I’m glad I got it going.”

Means lowered his ERA to 1.37 and became the first individual Orioles pitcher to toss a no-hitter since Jim Palmer in 1969. It was the 10th no-hitter in franchise history – six in Baltimore after four as the St. Louis Browns.

“It’s such a crazy feeling. It’s such a whirlwind of an experience. I don’t think I’ve been able to process it yet,” Means said. “But to be in the same breath as Palmer, I don’t think that it gets much better than that.”

In a season in which batters are on track to hit a record-low .232, Means joined a no-hit club that includes gems by San Diego right-hander Joe Musgrove at Texas on April 9 and by Chicago White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon against Cleveland on April 14.

In addition, Arizona left-hander Madison Bumgarner pitched a seven-inning no-hitter against Atlanta on April 25, but that is not recognized as an official no-hitter by Major League Baseball because the game did not go at least nine innings, shortened under pandemic rules in effect for a second straight season.

The closest Seattle came to a hit through six innings was J.P. Crawford’s short fly ball in the sixth inning that center fielder Cedric Mullins made a sliding catch to grab. Kyle Lewis provided a threat with a drive to left field leading off the eighth that was caught on the warning track by Austin Hays.

Means got a popout from Dylan Moore, struck out Haggerty swinging and got a soft liner from Crawford to end it, setting off a wild celebration with his teammates on the mound and a standing ovation from the Seattle crowd.

Baltimore’s previous no-hitter came on July 13, 1991, when Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson combined for a 2-0 victory at Oakland.

On Aug. 13, 1969, Palmer threw the only no-hitter of his career in an 8-0 win over the Athletics. Palmer threw 142 pitches and had six walks along the way – three to Reggie Jackson – but completed the only no-no of his career.

It was the first time in Means career he had pitched beyond seven innings in a start.

Means had plenty of offensive support. D.J. Stewart and Ramon Urias both had RBI singles off Yusei Kikuchi in the third inning. Pat Valaika hit a solo home run off Kikuchi (1-2) in the sixth and Trey Mancini provided the big blow with a three-run shot off reliever Aaron Fletcher in the eighth inning.

YANKEES 6, ASTROS 3: Giancarlo Stanton homered again and knocked in four runs, Aaron Hicks hit a tie-breaking single in the eighth inning and host New York won its fifth straight.

With fans in the Bronx chanting curses at Jose Altuve and several other Astros for the second consecutive night, the Yankees got three innings of scoreless relief from their major league-best bullpen and won for the 10th time in 13 games to move two games above .500 for the first time this season.

RANGERS 3, TWINS 1: Hyeon-Jong Yang made his first major league start after 14 years in the Korea Baseball Organization, getting visiting Texas off to a strong start in beating Minnesota.

Yang, the former KBO MVP, struck out seven of the first nine batters and eight overall in 3 1/3 innings. Making a spot start after two relief appearances earlier this season, Yang gave up four hits.

John King (3-1) picked up the win in relief of Yang, giving up just two hits in 2 2/3 innings. Ian Kennedy notched his ninth save.

Nate Lowe had a pair of hits and scored a run for Texas, who won for the fourth time in five games.

INDIANS 5, ROYALS 4: Josh Naylor homered in the ninth inning, sending visiting Cleveland to a win over Kansas City.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ROCKIES 6, GIANTS 5: Jon Gray tossed six strong innings and helped himself with an RBI single, and Colorado held off visiting San Francisco.

Gray (4-2) allowed two runs and four hits. He also struck out eight and walked two while improving to 4-0 in five home starts.

Daniel Bard worked a shaky ninth for his third save in five opportunities. The Giants scored an unearned run on catcher Dom Nunez’s throwing error, but Darin Ruf bounced to shortstop with a runner on third for the final out.

PHILLIES 5, BREWERS 4: Didi Gregorius hit his eighth career grand slam as host Philadelphia won its third straight.

MARLINS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 0: Adam Duvall hit his fifth home run and finished with four RBI, Miguel Rojas scored three times and five Miami pitchers scattered five hits in a win over visiting Arizona.

Duvall connected for a three-run homer in a four-run second off Luke Weaver (1-3), Duvall’s first home run in 19 games.

Rojas was 2 for 3 and drove in two runs for Miami, which remained under .500 at 13-16 but is the only team in the NL East to have outscored opponents. Of the Marlins’ plus-18 differential, 14 was in the two games of this series, which began with 9-3 victory.

BRAVES 5, NATIONALS 3: Marcell Ozuna hit Atlanta’s third grand slam in four games, Max Fried pitched five strong innings in his return from the injured list, and the Braves won at Washington.

Fried (1-1) allowed one run and four hits, struck out six and walked one. He had been sidelined since April 14 with a strained right hamstring.

Rookie William Contreras hit his first career homer for the Braves in his third start, replacing the injured Travis d’Arnaud at catcher.

METS, CARDINALS SPLIT: Tomas Nido hit a two-run homer and Jonathan Villar added a solo shot and an RBI single, powering visiting New York over St. Louis 7-2 for a doubleheader split.

The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the NL Central-leading Cardinals (19-13).

INTERLEAGUE

REDS 1, WHITE SOX 0: Jesse Winker hit a winning single in the 10th inning after Chicago’s Leury Garcia was caught stealing in the top half, and Cincinnati won at home.

Cincinnati’s Sonny Gray and Chicago’s Dallas Keuchel both pitched shutout ball, allowing two hits each in seven innings.

Cincinnati stopped its 18-inning scoreless streak as Liam Hendriks (1-1) lost for the first time since signing a $54 million, four-year contract with the White Sox as a free agent.

With automatic runner Tucker Barnhart on second, Nick Senzel singled against Hendriks leading off the 10th as Barnhart took third. Jesse Winker fouled off three pitches before lining the eighth offering from Hendricks into center field. Barnhart scored without a throw.

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