The San Diego Padres have never thrown a no-hitter. Tonight, their Double-A affiliate did,
San Diego native and Santana High Alum James Needy combined with two relievers to throw a no-hitter in San Antonio's 6-0 win over the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros affiliate).
Needy has had a huge season for the Missions this season, and has surely caught the eyes of the Padres big league brass. The Hooks never even managed a threat in Needy's seven innings. Needy pounded the strike zone and the only baserunner he allowed was courtesy of an error by Missions shortstop Diego Goris. The error was initially ruled a hit, but was later changed to an error.
In his seven innings of work, Needy allowed no hits, no walks and struck out seven. He left after throwing 91 pitches. Needy turned the game over to relievers Frank Garces and R.J. Alvarez, who put the exclamation point on the masterpiece.
The only runner that the Missions allowed came courtesy of the aforementioned error by Goris. Goris atoned for the error by hitting a two-run homer, his second since being promoted to San Antonio. The last time that the San Antonio Missions threw a no-no was in 1984, according to Randy Smith, the Padres vice president of player development.
On the season, Needy has an 8-3 record, with a 2.79 ERA for San Antonio.