Best time to throw a no-hitter?

 

By far, there are 7 no-hitters this season. A few weeks ago, I listened to a podcast and the host indicated that in some stadiums, you usually see a no-hitter in the afternoon. For me, that’s quite interesting. And, I was thinking if no-hitters happened more often in day games than in night games.
I went to check on the baseball reference website and find information about no-hitters from 2001 to 2021. In total, there are 57 individual no-hitters and 7 combined no-hitters. There weren’t any no-hitters in 2000. On April 4, 2001, Red Sox pitcher Hideo Nomo tossed a no-hitter at Camden Yards. Nomo used 110 pitches and struck out 11 batters, meanwhile, he gave up 3 walks. It’s the first no-hitter of this century. It was his second no-hitter in his MLB career. And, the first no-hitter in the 21st century was a night game.

And by far in this century, there are actually 38 individual no-hitters that are night games. Also, 19 individual no-hitters were day games. As we know, there are more night games than day games and we can’t really tell if no-hitters happen more often in night games or day games.

Meanwhile, among these 57 individual no-hitters, 7 of them were perfect games. Among those 7 perfect games, the Rays were the losing team three times. All these three games were day games. Additionally, 4 of those 7 perfect games were day games and 3 were night games. It’s also interesting to note that 2 perfect games were at Safeco field, home of the Seattle Mariners, in 2012. The White Sox pitcher Philip Humber tossed a perfect game against the Mariners on April 21, 2012. He used 96 pitches and struck out 9 batters on that day. On August 15, 2012, Felix Hernandez did something incredible. He threw 113 pitches and struck out 12 Rays batters without allowing any batters to reach base. Both perfect games at Safeco field were day games.

In addition, let’s see whether things are different in combined no-hitters. It’s not easy to see a no-hitter and it’s even rare to see a combined no-hitter. The first combined no-hitter in this century was on June 11, 2003. Roy Oswalt was the starting pitcher for the Astros, but he was pulled after one inning with an injury. Other 5 pitchers didn’t face too many problems against the Yankees lineup and the game became a 6-pitcher combined no-hitter. And, it was a night game. Among these 7 combined no-hitters, only one game was a day game. Moreover, the Mariners and the Dodgers were each combined to no-hit twice. But, the Dodgers completed a combined no-hitter against the Padres in Mexico on May 4, 2018.

When we look at no-hitters this season, 6 no-hitters were night games and only 1 no-hitter, which was a game that Orioles’ John Means tossed against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, was a day game.

Well, since 2001, 44 no-hitters were night games and 20 no-hitters were day games. However, 4 perfect games were day games and 3 perfect games were night games. Maybe it’s more possible to see a perfect game in the afternoon?