On Thursday afternoon on a sun-baked field at Camelback Ranch, four Dodgers farmhands combined for a no-hitter in the Arizona League., as the Rookie-level Dodgers defeated the Brewers, 10-0. A few hours later, on a hot, muggy evening at AT&T Field in Chattanooga, Tenn., right-hander Andres Santiago threw a no-hitter, leading Double-A Chattanooga to a 1-0 victory against Tennessee.
Separated by more than 1,500 miles, two Dodgers affiliates had thrown no-hitters in one day. Santiago’s no-hitter was the first by a Lookouts pitcher since July 1, 1996.
Santiago took a perfect game into the eighth inning before issuing a one-out walk to Christian Villanueva, the Cubs’ No. 20 prospect. Undeterred, he induced a double play to end the eighth and struck out the side in the ninth to punctuate his no-hitter.
Santiago struck out 12 batters and threw 109 pitches; it was the second complete game and shutout of his career.
With the victory, he improved to 6-8 with a 4.47 ERA this season. He has struck out 98 batters and walked 53 in 129 innings.
In Arizona, left-hander Jairo Pacheco combined with three relievers — Kam Uter, Yeuri Gonzalez and Harlan Richter — for the no-hitter.
Pacheco began the game by retiring eight straight batters before issuing a two-out walk in the third. He finished his outing with eight strikeouts and two walks in six innings. The 18-year old Venezuelan native has now thrown six scoreless innings in back-to-back starts and has a 15-inning shutout streak.
Uter relieved Pacheco to start the seventh, and he walked one batter in a scoreless inning. Gonzalez retired the first two batters in the eighth before Richter came on for the final four outs. He finished the no-hitter by getting Brewers’ No. 4 prospect Jake Gatewood to hit into a double play.
The pitching staff got plenty of support, as the Dodgers drew 11 walks and collected seven hits. Center fielder Alex Verdugo, the Dodgers’ No. 10 prospect, went 2-for-2 with a home run, two runs and three RBIs. He also walked and stole a base before he came out of the game after four innings.
The Dodgers selected Verdugo in the second round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. He is hitting .347/.423/.518 with three home runs in 49 games this season. Verdugo ranks second in the Arizona League in hitting and on-base percentage, trailing only Indians No. 20 prospect Bobby Bradley.
Teddy Cahill is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tedcahill. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
