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Angels finish rare spring training no-hitter with three defensive gems
The Los Angeles Angels achieved a rare feat on Friday when eight different pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against the division rival Seattle Mariners.
The no-hitter was actually the second in spring training this year. Back on March 17, Masahiro Tanaka and two Yankees relievers combined to no-hit the Detroit Tigers. But the Angels no-no marked the first in Cactus League play since 1996, when the then Anaheim Angels no-hit the San Francisco Giants with five pitchers.
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We don’t have to tell you that even though spring training no-hitters are so rare, they aren’t typically a big deal. A lot of that is because the games are so watered down with pitching changes and minor leaguers, it’s impossible to get excited or invested in the action or the outcome.
The Angels no-hitter is a little different though, if only because of the three excellent defensive plays it needed and received in the ninth inning to finish it off.
It should be noted there were only a few regulars on the field in the ninth inning. None of them were Mike Trout, but one of them was first baseman C.J. Cron. He started the inning with a terrific backhanded dive and flip to pitcher Abel De Los Santos for the first out.
The Mariners didn’t have any regulars still in the lineup. James Ramsey was the batter robbed by Cron. Then Ian Miller stepped in and lobbed one into right field that Shane Robinson caught with a dive.
Not bad. Not bad at all. At that point De Los Santos had to be hoping for an easy comebacker. Instead, Rayder Ascanio ripped a grounder to third base that Shane Johnson dove to his left to flag down and then fired across the diamond for the final out.
Pretty good stuff.
Even though this no-no will be wiped from our memory 10 days from now, it’s still pretty cool for the players involved. That includes starting pitcher Bud Norris, who pitched the first two innings. Jose Alvarez, Cam Bedrosian, Andrew Bailey, Austin Adams, Drew Gagnon, Justin Anderson and Abel De Los Santos each logged one inning of relief.
The Angels were pretty close to perfection too. Seattle’s lone two runners reached on a walk and a catcher’s interference. As it is, the Angels will take the no-hitter while hoping there are bigger and better moments to come when it counts.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
