BALTIMORE – Right from the start, it had been a miserable spring.

Before they could play so much as an exhibition game, Nomar Garciaparra went down with a wrist injury that could sideline him until the All-Star break.

	Hideo Nomo, center, is just the fourth pitcher to throw no-hitters in both the American and National leagues.

Next came Manny Ramirez claiming conscientious objector status when he was asked to play left field, followed in short order by troubling injuries to aging veterans David Cone and John Valentin.

There were two transportation issues for Carl Everett, topped off by his suspension and a record fine for spring training. There was a wholesale lineup makeover less than 72 hours before the start of the season, a trade demand and just for good measure, an agonizing Opening Day loss that reeked suspiciously of last year.

Other than that, the Boston Red Sox were just fine, thank you.

But Hideo Nomo entered the record books Wednesday night and toyed with the Baltimore Orioles and made the Sox's troubles go away, if only temporarily.

Nomo tossed the first no-hitter by a Red Sox pitcher since 1965 and had his new teammates forgetting all about 2001: A Red Sox Odyssey. When the final out settled into Troy O'Leary's glove and the 3-0 win over the Orioles was complete, you could almost hear the Sox sigh in relief above the din in Camden Yards.

Nomo's no-no was one for the history books. He became the first active pitcher to throw a second no-hitter (his first came in Coors Field in 1996) and only the fourth to pitch one in each league – the others are Nolan Ryan, Jim Bunning and Cy Young, all of whom are Hall of Famers.

Getting ahead

Based on his assesment of Hideo Nomo, Joe Kerrigan might be the best pitching coach in the majors. Kerrigan said entering the season that Nomo needed to throw a higher percentage of first-pitch strikes to be successful, and Nomo made Kerrigan a prophet with his performance against Baltimore. Nomo faced 32 batters in his no-hitter Wednesday night and threw 19 first-pitch strikes. That works out to 59 percent of the batters he faced, a much better number than the 53 percent Nomo put up with Detroit in 2000 and slightly better than the 56 percent major-league average from last season. Getting ahead also helped Nomo finish off batters on his own, as he struck out 11 Orioles Wednesday night compared to the 8.9 hitters he fanned per nine innings in 2000. --Rico Longoria

But the more immediate effect was to reverse all the bad karma that had been piling up around the Red Sox.

"Elation," said manager Jimy Williams, describing the emotion he felt. "You can't feel much better than that when you see someone pitch like he did tonight."

What had been a clubhouse full of conflict and anxiety immediately turned celebratory in the aftermath of Nomo's masterpiece. Stripped of the left side of their infield and with Ramirez, their biggest free agent catch ever, limited by a balky hamstring to DH duties, the Red Sox were due for a positive turn, but Nomo's effort outstripped all expectations.

Since Dave Morehead pitched the franchise's last no-hitter, the team has had three Cy Young Award winners – Jim Lonborg, Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez. None did what Nomo did in his first start for the team, though Clemens and Martinez took no-hit bids into the ninth.

Others have flirted, too. Rookie Billy Rohr was an out away in the third game of the 1967 season before the Yankees' Elston Howard spoiled the fun. Later that Impossible Dream season, Howard came to the Red Sox by which time Rohr was gone, never to be heard from again.

Rick Wise carried his no-hit effort into the ninth in 1975 before George Scott interrupted. Like Howard, Scott, who began his career with the Sox, would join the team for whom he had acted as spoiler.

In perhaps the cruelest twist of all, Matt Young, the team's poster boy for bad free agent signings, no-hit the Cleveland Indians through eight. But because the Indians had managed to eke out two runs to the Sox's one, they didn't bat in the ninth, depriving Young's bid for an officially recognized no-hitter.

At times, it seemed as though the team's infamous championship drought might end before their no-hit streak did.

There were a few tense moments along the way Wednesday night, none more so than in the ninth when, with one out, Mike Bordick sent a flare to shallow center, just beyond second base.

Every no-hitter needs a defensive hero, and on this night, the part was played by Mike Lansing, who had entered the game as a replacement for the injured Chris Stynes two innings earlier.

"I got a good jump on the ball," Lansing recounted. "I just put my head down and ran for it. I didn't realize how far out the ball was, but like I said, I got a good jump. I knew Craig (Grebeck, the shortstop) wasn't going to get to it. It was either me or no one.

Lansing knew what was at stake. With the Sox leading by three, the game might not have been in jeopardy, but Nomo's historic bid was. There was a definite sense of urgency in the chase.

"You take off as soon as you see it hit," recalled Lansing, "because you know you've got to go out."

Like a wide receiver running a fade pattern, Lansing ran as far as he could, and when he could run no more, leaped into the air, making the grab with his glove. Tumbling to the ground, he got quickly to his feet and held his glove – with the ball in it and the 26th out of the night safely in his possession.

When Lansing took his place at second, prepping for the final out, Nomo pointed to him in recognition.

"I knew he appreciated it," Lansing said.

That signal might have been the only way for Nomo to convey his thanks at the time. Though he has a rudimentary understanding of basic English phrases and baseball terms, Nomo says little in English.

That's just as well, since baseball protocol calls for no interaction with a pitcher working on a no-hitter in progress.

But maybe it wouldn't have mattered either way. Nomo is an implacable sort, and after all, he'd been through this before.

"You could see on his face that he was very focused – nothing bothered him," pitching coach Joe Kerrigan said. "It's one of those situations were a bomb could have gone off on the side of the mound and he'd still be looking in for the sign. He had great intensity."

Beyond his entry into team history, Nomo's performance could pay a more immediate dividend by giving the Red Sox hope that their elusive search for a dependable starter OTP (Other Than Pedro) was mercifully over.

In each of the last two seasons, the Sox have failed to have another starter win more than 10 games, and their current rotation features a journeyman (Frank Castillo) with three winning seasons in a nine-year major league career and two rookies (Tomo Ohka and Paxton Crawford).

Kerrigan worked with Nomo throughout spring training on bettering his first-pitch strike efficiency, which Kerrigan believes is critical for Nomo to recapture the success he enjoyed as a rookie in 1996.

In the habit of falling behind hitters in recent years, Nomo has become a baseball vagabond, moving from the Dodgers to the Mets to the Brewers and the Tigers before Boston, his most recent stop.

Tellingly, Nomo got ahead in the count on 18 of the 31 Baltimore hitters, making his signature split-finger pitch that much tougher. Indeed, by the late innings, Nomo seemed to be toying with the Orioles, at one point recording eight of nine outs by strikeout.

It helped, too, that Nomo had enjoyed success against the Baltimore lineup before.

"We went over the numbers before the game," Kerrigan said, "and the only guy with a history (of success) against him was (David) Segui. We didn't worry about pitching to their weaknesses – we had him pitch to his strengths."

Nomo's next start will come Tuesday, also against Baltimore, invoking thoughts of Johnny Vander Meer, the only man to pitch back-to-back no-nos.

"It was fun to watch," said Castillo, who'll pitch Thursday night in the series finale in Baltimore, "but a tough act to follow."

For one night, however, the Sox could enjoy the moment, savor the history and wonder if the man they signed to be their No. 2 starter can keep pitching the way he did Wednesday – like a No. 1.

And maybe, just maybe, the spring from hell ended when Wednesday's game did.

"I think it lifts everybody's spirits in here," said Brian Daubach, whose two homers provided the only three runs of the game. "I'm sure (the city of) Boston is a lot happier. It's a great time for it. Anytime is great for a no-hitter, but there have been a lot of – I don't want to say negative things – but things that haven't been that good, for sure. It gives everyone a fresh start."

Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal writes a major-league notebook each week during the baseball season for ESPN.com.