Was Mauer's Performance Better Than A No-Hitter?

In case you’ve been asleep since about 5 p.m. yesterday, you saw that former Twin Matt Garza put together the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history against the fading Detroit Tigers. Garza faced the minimum of 27 hitters in the Rays’ 5-0 victory at Tropicana Field.

Garza’s performance was the fifth no-hitter of the 2010 season -- sixth if you count Armando Galarraga’s should-have-been perfect game -- and the 177th in the history of Major League Baseball. A great performance, to be sure ... but the folks on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike In the Morning brought up an interesting point.

In last night’s 19-1 rout of Kansas City, Twins’ catcher Joe Mauer went 5-for-5 with seven runs batted in. And while there have been 177 no-hitters in Major League Baseball history, Mauer’s performance last night marks only the 44th time a player has had at least five hits and seven RBI in the same game.

So while it could be argued that Mauer’s achievement was as good or better, there is no arguing that it’s a significantly rarer feat.