Lightning Strikes Twice: Naturals Combine on No-Hitter

One night after Luis Mendoza threw a no-hitter* for Omaha in Memphis, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals joined the party.

*After the no-hitter, the official scorer reversed his decision to charge David Lough with an error, then re-reversed it to credit Mendoza with the feat.  Now, the Memphis coaching staff is appealing the ruling.  For a while, Mendoza still had credit for his second career Triple A no-hitter.  However the PCL responded to an appeal by Memphis by ruling the play a hit and taking away Mendoza’s no-hitter. 

Will Smith threw seven hitless innings and walked just two while Kelvin Herrera pitched two perfect innings to preserve a 1-0 win.  The Naturals faced the minimum 27 batters in the game, thanks to a sixth-inning triple play after Smith allowed the only baserunners of the game.

Smith was acquired last July along with Sean O’Sullivan for Alberto Callaspo.  He had a 2.80 ERA in 54.2innings for Wilmington last season and pitched in the Texas League playoffs with the Naturals.  He had a 4.20 ERA over 100.2 innings before tonight.

Herrera is having a superb season.  He played in the All-Star Futures Game last weekend and had a 2.03 ERA in 31 innings.  He has a 37/3 K/BB ratio in Double A.

Kane County threw a combined no-hitter on May 18th when Sugar Ray Marimon and Chas Byrne combined in the achievement.

Wilmington, it’s your turn…