Alvarado, Durham Bulls toss combined no-hitter
Four pitchers combined for a Triple-A Durham no-hitter of Syracuse in a 2-1 victory at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Wednesday night.
It was one of the oddest no-hitters you'll ever see, as the Rays' affiliate silenced the bats of a Syracuse Mets lineup in which eight of the nine hitters, plus a ninth-inning pinch-hitter, had Major League experience, combining for 4,272 MLB games played.
Arturo Reyes, Ricardo Pinto, Jose Alvarado and Hoby Milner collectively achieved the feat for the Bulls. It's the team's second no-hitter this season, but first in a nine-inning contest.
Reyes started and threw three innings, walking one an striking out four. Pinto came out of the bullpen to toss 4 2/3 frames, yielding a run after walking two, hitting a batter and fanning five. Alvarado took over with two outs in the eighth inning, getting Danny Espinosa to ground out to preserve Durham's one-run lead.
Milner closed out the contest with a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two, including pinch-hitter Travis Taijeron to end it.
The lineup the Bulls no-hit Wednesday featured Rajai Davis (1,423 MLB games), Espinosa (872 MLB games), Ruben Tejada (657 MLB games), Arismendy Alcantara (167 MLB games), Gregor Blanco (1,060 MLB games), Rymer Liriano (59 MLB games) and Braxton Lee (eight MLB games). Taijeron, who pinch-hit in the ninth, has played in 26 MLB games.
Durham's two runs came on a pair of homers, one by Kean Wong in the first inning, and one by Nate Lowe in the third.