Associated Press1:14 PM GMT3 Minute Read
Angels’ Double-A throw no-hitter and still fails
Three pitchers combine in a seven-inning no-hitter, but the Trash Pandas still lose 7-5.
MADISON, Ala, – The Los Angeles Angels’ Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas allowed a hit in a doubleheader and only shared.
Three pitchers combined on a seven-inning, no-hitter for the Trash Pandas, only to lose 7-5 to the Cincinnati Reds’ Chattanooga Lookouts in Saturday’s opener after Wildness caused a seven-run top of the seventh.
Rocket City pitchers walked five, batted four batters and threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the seventh inning and were hurt by a dropped fly ball with bases loaded on the final.
Coleman Crow, a 22-year-old right-hander draft pick in the 28th round of the 2019 amateur draft, went 3-0 up after six innings and 78 pitches. He struck six and walked two.
Ben Joyce, a third-round draft pick last summer, relieved. The 22-year-old right-hander walked his first two batters, triggered a pop and walked a third.
After a strikeout, Joyce (0-1) forced a run with his fourth walk, sending Jose Torres flying to the center. Jeremiah Jackson, a second-round draft pick in 2018, dropped the ball on an error that gave the Lookouts a 4-3 lead. Jackson, 23, was an infielder before the Angels gave him outfield time last season.
Relieved, Eric Torres, a 23-year-old left-hander who was selected in the 2021 round of 14, hit three straight batters with pitches, the last constraint in a run. Torres forced another run with a four-pitch walk and then threw a wild pitch that increased the lead to 7-3. He beat another batter before an inning-ending strikeout.
Edgar Quero, a rising Cuban who turned 20 on Thursday, hit a two-run single run against Stevie Branche in the bottom half.
Andy Fisher (1-0) hit two in a perfect sixth place. Pedro Garcia broke away in the seventh with two ons and an out, beating Jackson and Tucker Flint for his second save.
Rocket City won the second game 3-0 in one fell swoop. Sam Bachman, the ninth overall pick in last year’s draft, allowed one hit in five innings — Rece Hinds’ leadoff double in the second — struck out nine and missed none. Brett Kerry finished the game with two hitless innings and four strikeouts.