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Angels minor league team throws no-hitter ... and loses 7-5

jack baer
Staff writer
·2 min read
Ben Joyce, pitching here for the Angels in spring training, walked four and gave up five runs (one earned) on Saturday. His replacement fared worse. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Ben Joyce, pitching here for the Angels in spring training, walked four and gave up five runs (one earned) on Saturday. His replacement fared worse. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The Rocket City Trash Pandas, the delightfully named Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, found a novel way to make history in a doubleheader Saturday.

Entering the seventh and final inning against the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Trash Pandas were up 3-0 and on track for a combined (and shortened) no-hitter after six hitless innings from starter Coleman Crow. To finish things off, they turned to flamethrower Ben Joyce, the Angels' third-round pick last year who throws harder than anyone in the majors.

By the end of the inning, the Trash Pandas had blown the three-run lead but, somehow, not the no-hitter. The team eventually lost 7-5 after a rally in the bottom of the seventh fell short.

How do you give up seven runs without allowing a hit? Let's go through the seventh inning play-by-play and see how things went wrong:

  • Rece Hinds walks.

  • Allan Cerda walks.

  • Nick Quintana pops out.

  • Daniel Vellojin walks.

  • James Free strikes out swinging.

  • Jacob Hurtubise walks (3-1 Rocket City).

  • Jose Torres reaches on fielding error, a dropped fly ball (4-3 Chattanooga).

  • Angels remove Ben Joyce for Eric Torres.

  • Noelvi Marte hit by pitch.

  • Ivan Johnson hit by pitch.

  • Rece Hinds hit by pitch (5-3 Chattanooga).

  • Allan Cerda walks (6-3 Chattanooga).

  • Ivan Johnson scores on a wild pitch (7-3 Chattanooga).

  • Nick Quintana hit by pitch.

  • Ilvin Fernandez strikes out swinging.

All told, Joyce and Torres combined to post five walks, four hit-by-pitches and a wild pitch — but only one earned run, as a dropped fly ball by center fielder Jeremiah Jackson would've stanched the bleeding at one run. Instead, it was the go-ahead play.

Make all the Tungsten Arm O'Doyle jokes you want, but the Angels' big-league club will never surpass this.

And here's the kicker: This was Game 1 of the doubleheader. The Trash Pandas had to play seven more innings after this. Fortunately, they found some redemption with a 3-0 win, but no one's going to remember that from Saturday.