Sims, Tewell, Wilson commemorate the moment
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From MiLB
Lucas Sims reconnected with an old friend Thursday night, and it helped him start the Carolina League's first no-hitter of 2014 -- and the beginning of a historic 48-hour period for the Hillcats staff.
"I've been struggling with my curveball quite a bit, and right about the fifth inning, I got a feel for it back," the Braves' top prospect said. "It felt really good to kind of be reunited. I hadn't seen it in a while and was glad it came back and hung out."
Sims (6-5) threw seven hitless innings, giving up an unearned run and striking out six while walking four in Class A Advanced Lynchburg's 5-1 victory over Wilmington. Alex Wilson struck out three and walked two over the final two frames.
"It was real special. You know, I've been scuffling a little bit this season, trying to figure some mechanical things out," said the 20-year-old righty. "I've been learning the whole way through, but it was really special tonight. Everything clicked. It was fun, really fun."
Sims struggled with his command, and not just of his breaking ball, in the early going Thursday. He worked around a hit batsman, Jack Lopez, to start the third and walked No. 7 Royals prospectBubba Starling and Michael Antonio in the bottom of the fourth. He fanned Cody Stubbs to end the inning.
"I didn't feel that great in my [pregame] bullpen [session]," he said. "I competed for a little bit, and I really didn't have a good changeup tonight. For the first couple innings, I might have [just barely] gotten by, but they made a couple plays behind me."
Control was an issue again in the fifth as Sims walked Lopez with one out. Lopez moved to second on Hillcats catcher Tyler Tewell's passed ball and to third on a fielding error by shortstop Daniel Castro. Sims induced a comebacker from Terrance Gore and fired to second for one out, but Gore was safe at first and Lopez scored.
Considering that the play broke up a shutout, Sims regretted going for two "pretty bad."
"That was a bad mental mistake. With that situation, with Gore running, he's not much of a double-play candidate. I just fielded the ball and my natural instinct was to go to second," he said.
"I heard somebody say, 'four, four, four,' but I didn't turn. I guess I gripped the ball a little tighter and gave a low throw to second. Castro made a great play to handle it and make it close at first, but I should have gone home. As soon as I let go of the ball, I regretted it."
Sims retired the next five in a row, surrendered a one-out walk to Cam Gallagher in the seventh and struck out the final two batters he faced. He threw 101 pitches -- 59 for strikes -- and lowered his ERA to 4.71.
"The run bothers me because it's completely on me, a mental lapse on my part, but it doesn't change the fact [of the no-hitter]," he said. "I'm just excited it got done. I'll take it any way I can get it, I guess."
Said Sims, who ranks as baseball's No. 49 prospect overall. "I was really glad Wilson was able to get it done."
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LINK TO BOXSCORES
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CLASS AAA
Gwinnett 4, Toledo 1
SP: Maya 7 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.
WP: Reyes (1-3) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
Hoyt (Save, 1) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
Pastornicky 2-4, 3 RBIs, SB.
Gosselin 1-4, 2B, 2 R.
CLASS AA
Mississippi 14, Birmingham 6
18 total hits.
Graham DNP.
SP: Weber 4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
WP: Harper (4-3) 3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.
M. Jones 2-4, R, 3 RBIs.
Peraza 3-5, R, RBI, BB.
Kubitza 3-6, R, SB.
Nunez 1-1, 2 R, 2 RBIs, BB. (PH)
Reyes 1-3.
ADVANCED CLASS A
NO-HITTER II!
Lynchburg 5, Wilmington 0
WP: Scarpetta (2-1) 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K.
Pruneda 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
Ahrens 4-4, 3 2B, 2 R.
Skinner 2-4, RBI.
E. Garcia 2-4, R, RBI, SB.
Tewell 1-4, RBI. (catches back-to-back no-nos)
CLASS A
Savannah 4, Rome 2
SP: Diaz 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. (debut)
LP: Vail (0-2) 3.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
Lien 1-4, RBI, SB.
V. Reyes 1-4, 2 R.
SHORT-SEASON
Danville 11, Greeneville 5
SP: Stiffler 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 0 K.
WP: Roney (1-0) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K.
Barker 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. (debut)
Edgerton 3-4, 3B, R, 2 RBIs.
Piloto 1-4, 2 R, 2 RBIs, SB.
Black 2-2, 2 R, RBI.
McElroy 1-4, 2B, R.
GCL Braves 10, GCL Blue Jays 9
SP: C. Perez 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K.
Santana 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
WP: Zavala (2-0) 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Jhon Martinez (Save, 1) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Salcedo 3-5, 2B, 2 HR (2nd), 7 RBIs, SB. (playing RF)
Davidson 1-3, 2B, R. (playing LF, first hit)
Dykstra 1-2. (.571)
Daris 3-4, 2B, 2 R, SB.
Albies 1-2, 3 R, 3 BB, SB.
Chin 1-1, 2B, R, 3 RBIs.
DSL Tigers 10, DSL Braves 5
LP: L. Barrios (1-3) 0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
George 2-4, 2R.
Philips 1-5, 2B, RBI.
Castro 1-3.
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