Astros' Affiliate Tosses Second Combined No-Hitter in Team History

In the last week of regular-season play, the Houston Astros' Single-A affiliate tossed its second combined no-hitter in team history, the first coming May 14, 2021, against Kannapolis. En route to a 3-0 win over the Lynchburg Hillcats, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers sent six arms to the mound to no-hit Cleveland's farmhands.

In his first start since Aug. 18, Bryant Salgado opened the contest with a scoreless inning, striking out a pair. It marked the righty's final outing of the year as his excitement started to brew in the fifth inning. 

"What a great experience," Salgado said. "There was a lot of energy throughout the game. Of course, I was anxiously looking at the scoreboard since the fifth inning, hoping we could do it. I’m just blessed and grateful to have been apart of it."

Following Salgado, 2022 ninth-round pick Brett Gillis took the ball. The Portland product walked two batters in the second frame but escaped with a runner in scoring position after a strikeout and flyout ended the threat.

Gillis pitched into the third inning but was given the hook after inducing a pop out and a fly out, ending his relief appearance with two strikeouts over 1.2 innings on 36 pitches. 

Ronny Garcia entered to record the final out, and after a walk to Isaiah Greene, the righty yielded a groundout to Jorge Burgos. Through three innings, the Woodpeckers allowed four base runners and no hits with three different hurlers taking the rubber.

For the next five innings, A.J. Blubaugh ate. The 2022 seventh-round pick tossed five innings in relief, limiting the Hillcats to two base runners, a third-inning walk and a hit batter, while swording eight. The right-hander picked up his second win of the season in the process.

Zack Matthews was tasked with the ninth inning. The righty made quick time, striking out Greene and inducing a groundout from Burgos, but on the second out, Matthews tweaked his knee covering first base, leaving the contest abruptly. 

Matthews was activated from the injured list late last month and missed a chance to close out the no-hitter. After the injury delay, Austin Temple appeared from the bullpen with two outs in the ninth. The undrafted talent from Notre Dame shut the door on Lynchburg, striking out Will Bartlett on five pitches.

"(John) Garcia caught a great game," manager Dickie Joe Thon said. "It’s great to see them have that kind of success and demonstrate their potential. We have a lot of new faces in the clubhouse that are eager to play and work. Makes our lives easier as a coaching staff."

In just his fifth start behind the plate for the Woodpeckers, John Garcia was a part of history. The 19th-round pick called his best professional game, receiving praise from Thon.

"I was trying to stay calm during the whole game, because I knew what was going on and didn’t want to make a big thing out of it," Garcia said. "But it was amazing being able to call and catch a no-hitter in my first year as a professional baseball player. 

"I feel like I called a really good game, always talking to my pitchers so they could stay locked In, because I knew it was going to be a special one."

On the night, Fayetteville combined for two hit batters and four walks to its 14 strikeouts. The Woodpeckers have already been eliminated from the Carolina League playoffs, but that didn't halt any plans of a strong finish.

"It was a very fun game to watch," Thon said. "The pitchers did a hell of a job. (Pitching coach John) Kovalik and the pitching staff have been working really hard all season."

The Single-A affiliate battled a slew of injuries this season while also looking completely different with the influx of draftees by season's end, but in their final week of 2022, the Woodpeckers were able to piece together history.