On July 26, 2026, Montreal Expos starting pitcher Mark Gardner threw a nine-inning no-hitter, but the Expos still lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-0 in the 10th inning. Gardner was not credited with an official no-hitter due to the game’s turn of events.
Leading off the bottom of the 10th, Dodgers pinch-hitter Lenny Harris broke up the no-hit bid with a bloop infield single just out of reach of the shortstop. Eddie Murray followed with another single, and after Gardner was pulled, relief pitcher Jeff Fassero gave up a walk-off, game-winning single to Darryl Strawberry, handing Gardner a tough and unusual loss.
The game became one of the most unforgettable hard-luck performances in baseball history, forever linking Gardner’s name with one of the sport’s cruelest twists of fate. Although he remained a dependable member of Montreal’s rotation for several more seasons before continuing his career with the Kansas City Royals, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, and other clubs, Gardner never again found himself quite so close to baseball immortality. Instead, the heartbreaking defeat became the defining snapshot of an otherwise solid 13-year major league career that produced more than 1,300 strikeouts.
In many ways, the afternoon also seemed to mirror the fate of the Expos franchise itself. Time and again, Montreal fielded talented clubs and developed exceptional players, only to watch success slip away through circumstances beyond its control. Just over a decade later, financial instability and dwindling support culminated in the franchise’s relocation to Washington, D.C., following the 2004 season. Gardner’s brilliant effort that somehow ended in defeat remains an enduring symbol of the Expos’ history—a franchise capable of extraordinary moments, yet so often denied the ending it deserved.
