MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Four TinCaps No-Hit Loons

Published on May 9, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


FORT WAYNE, IN - Four Fort Wayne pitchers combined to hold the Great Lakes Loons hitless through nine innings Thursday night at Parkview Field. But starter Max Fried and relievers Matthew Shepherd, Leonel Campos and Roman Madrid had to wait to celebrate until their team scored the game's only run in the bottom of the ninth inning on a walk-off walk by Brian Adams.

The no-hitter was the second in the 21-year history of Fort Wayne TinCaps (and Wizards) baseball. Simon Castro threw the other, August 18, 2009 against Dayton, but did so in a seven-inning game. It is the first time in team history the Loons have been no-hit.

Fried, the No. 7 overall draft pick of the Padres in last year's draft and No. 2 San Diego prospect according to Baseball America, struck out eight Loons but walked four in his outing. He retired the first two batters in the sixth but walked Jesmuel Valentin on a 3-2 count with his 86th pitch of the game and was taken out of the game. Of his 86 pitches, 48 were strikes.

Shepherd threw one pitch in the sixth and retired Kevin Taylor on a grounder to second. He stayed on for the seventh and with two outs Jeremy Rathjen hit an in-between hop grounder to second base that hit off Maxx Tissenbaum's chest for an error. Rathjen stole second, took third on an errant throw by Dane Phillips, but was stranded at third.

Campos dominated the bottom three in the Loons order in his lone inning, fanning Pat Stover, Jesus Valdez and James Baldwin in the eighth.

Valentin led off Madrid's lone inning with a walk, but Madrid retired Taylor, Eric Smith and Tyler Ogle to keep the no-hitter intact.

But the game remained scoreless, thanks to some spectacular pitching by the Loons as well. In a game that featured a no-hitter by the home team, visiting right-hander Jharel Cotton turned in the best individual pitching performance of the night. He allowed just four hits over seven shutout innings, walking none and striking out three. He threw slightly more than 10 pitches per inning (72) and threw 52 strikes.

Scott Griggs worked the eighth inning for the Loons. He retired two quickly, but the TinCaps loaded the bases on a double and two walks. But Griggs struck out Jeremy Baltz on a disputed half-swing call to end the inning.

Griggs remained on the mound for the ninth. He walked leadoff hitter Phillips on four pitches. Loons pitching coach Bill Simas went to the mound for a visit and in the process questioned plate umpire Sean Allen on the location of the first two pitches of the at bat and was ejected. Gabriel Quintana was hit by a 1-0 offering. Then Luis Tejada squared around to bunt and was hit in the helmet by a Griggs offering to load the bases. Loons manager Razor Shines argued Tejada did not pull the bat back in time but to no avail. The next batter Adams walked on four pitches to bring in the winning run and begin the delayed no-hit celebration.

The Loons and TinCaps conclude their three-game series Friday evening at 7:05pm with another potential pitcher's duel. The game pits Loons right-hander Carlos Frias (3-0, 0.91 ERA) and TinCaps right-hander Justin Hancock (1-0, 2.00), two pitchers ranking in the Top 10 in the league in ERA. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN 100.9-FM and ESPN1009.com.

The Loons are a seventh-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and members of the Midwest League. For more information about the Loons, visit Loons.com or call 989-837-BALL.

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Midwest League Stories from May 9, 2013


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