Stone rolls through no-hit start at Triple-A

How good was Gavin Stone on Friday night? In a word, unhittable.

The Dodgers’ No. 4 prospect racked up 10 strikeouts over six hitless, scoreless innings in Oklahoma City’s 7-1 win over Round Rock. The 10 whiffs matched a season high set in May, while the six no-hit frames were a new benchmark for Stone. His previous longest outing without allowing a hit was four innings -- a feat he accomplished last season with OKC and in 2021 with High-A Great Lakes.

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Stone, MLB’s No. 48 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has had two stints with the big league club this season, but he has been ironing out the details in OKC. According to Stone, this tinkering has led up to a night like Friday, which was perhaps the best in his professional career:

“Everything pretty much was working tonight," Stone said, "but just the overall aspect of fine-tuning things week-to-week, adding a couple pitches and seeing what really works. I think that progress has really helped, and I think that’s what leads you to 10-strikeout nights like this.”

While the 24-year-old righty knew he was racking up the strikeouts, his focus on the mound obscured the more remarkable part of the evening -- a no-hitter in the making:

“When you’re pitching, you really don’t notice," Stone said. "But when you come out, you definitely notice because a couple of guys here and there will come up and congratulate you.”

The Dodgers eventually lost their no-hit bid in the eighth inning, but their victory marked their third straight in what has been a strong second half. Even after claiming the Pacific Coast League's East division crown in the first half -- thereby assuring themselves a spot in the postseason -- OKC has continue to roll. On the year, they are a staggering 71-33, marking the most wins of any Minor League club

As for Stone, he entered Friday sixth in the PCL in strikeouts with 95, impressive considering he has also made four big league appearances (three starts) in that time. After going 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA (and just one homer allowed) in July, he and the Triple-A Dodgers are firing on all cylinders.

“We’ve been playing really good baseball," Stone said. "Going into the second half, we’ve continued that. I think it’s a testament to what we do every day. We grind and we fight and we pull out victories week-to-week. We have a lot of comeback wins, so that just speaks to the guys we have in our clubhouse.”