Saturday afternoon, Max Fried, Joe Jiménez, and Raisel Iglesias narrowly missed combining to no-hit the New York Mets. Designated hitter J.D. Martinez broke up the no-hitter and the shutout with a home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. It would have been the first no-hitter for the Braves in over 30 years and the second combined no-hitter in team history.

Combined no-hitters are rarer than complete game no-hitters. Of the 281 no-hitters since 1900, 261 were complete games while only 20 were combined efforts.

The first, and most unusual, combined no-hitter occurred on June 23, 1917, and involved the man who would become the game’s most famous player. Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox combined with Ernie Shore on a no-hitter against the Washington Senators.

Ruth contributed very little to the effort. He walked leadoff batter Ray Morgan, and then got into an argument with plate umpire Brick Owens. Owens ejected Ruth, and Shore came into the game in relief. Morgan was thrown out attempting to steal, and Shore then retired the next 26 batters in order.

It would be almost 50 years before the next combined no-hitter. Steve Barber and Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles teamed up to no-hit the Detroit Tigers on April 30, 1967.

After six combined no-hitters in the American League, Kent Mercker, Mark Wohlers, and Alejandro Peña of the Atlanta Braves pitched the first combined no-hitter in National League history on September 11, 1991, against the San Diego Padres.

The most pitchers to combine for a no-hitter is six, and it has been done twice. Roy Oswalt, Peter Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner of the Houston Astros teamed up to no-hit the New York Yankees on June 11, 2003. Then on July 8, 2012, Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen of the Seattle Mariners joined forces to no-hit the Dodgers.

Four pitchers have pitched in a combined no-hitter and also pitched a complete game no-hitter of their own. Vida Blue pitched a no-hitter for the Oakland Athletics against the Minnesota Twins on September 21, 1970, and on September 28, 1975, he combined with Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, and Rollie Fingers on a no-hitter against the California Angels.

Mike Witt of the Angels pitched a perfect game against the Texas Rangers on September 30, 1984. Then on April 11, 1990, he pitched the final two innings of a no-hitter against the Mariners after Mark Langston held them hitless for the first seven. Witt is the only pitcher to pitch a complete game no-hitter and also finish a combined no-hitter in relief.

Almost three years after Mercker pitched in the combined no-hitter, he pitched a complete-game no-hitter for the Braves against the Dodgers on April 8, 1994.

Prior to his combined no-hit effort with the Mariners, Millwood pitched a no-hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies against the San Francisco Giants on April 27, 2003. He is the only pitcher to throw a no-hitter for one team and combine on a no-hitter for another team.

Multiple catchers were used in two of the combined no-hitters. Pinch Thomas and Sam Agnew of the Red Sox shared duty behind the plate in the first combined no-hitter after Thomas was tossed from the game at the same time Ruth was. And Gene Tenace and Ray Fosse of the Athletics both worked Oakland’s combined no-hitter in 1975.

No-hitters are still rare. But with today’s emphasis on pitch counts, set-up men, and closers, I believe combined no-hitters will become the norm rather than the exception.

(All information on no-hit games is from Baseball Reference.)