DUFFY NO-HITS PEORIA; White 2-for-4

DUFFY NO-HITTER

It just keeps getting better for DANNY DUFFY.

The Cabrillo lefty posted his most impressive performance of a star-studded summer Thursday night in Peoria, Illinois with a six-inning no-hitter in the Class-A Midwest League.

On the road facing the Peoria Chiefs, a Chicago Cubs affiliate, Duffy gave up only two bases on balls while retiring 18 Chiefs, four on strikeouts, as his Burlington Bees rolled 10-0.

He put down the side in order in the first, but gave up a one-out walk in the second before retiring the side on two force outs. He walked the leadoff hitter in the third but shut down the next three hitters on two fly balls and a strikeout. He retired the final nine batters to face him in the fourth, fifth and sixth in order. He stopped six hitters on ground balls, eight on balls hit in the air.

Duffy was followed the mound by reliever Juan Abreu who continued the no-hitter, the first for Burlington in four years, to ensure the evening will earn a spot in the MWL record books.

"This was a team no-hitter, that's for sure," said Duffy, still just 19 years old. "You had two pitchers involved and the team scored 10 runs, so it was a solid win for the whole team.
"This was the first time in a long time I had all my pitches working the way I wanted. I didn't realize it was a no-hitter until the sixth. When we got through the eighth, people were telling me this could really happen."

"When I'm in the bullpen, I don't look at the score," added Abreu, who had never been involved in a no-hitter before. "But when he came out of the game, Duffy told me, 'We've got a no-hitter going. You can do it.'" Duffy said his last no-no was in Little League and "doesn't count."
Abreu, a 23-year-old righty, has saved all of Duffy's seven wins this year.

"He was 'nails' tonight," Duffy said. "His curve was unbelievable. It's great to have a pitcher like that coming in after you."

With this masterful effort Duffy lowered his ERA 22 points to 2.48 and notched his seventh victory of the season against four losses, five of those wins coming in his last six decisions. In his last 20 innings he has allowed only a single earned run.

In 72 innings this summer for Burlington Duffy has allowed only 52 hits. He has struck out 87 and walked but 22, nearly a 4-1 ratio.

Duffy was a third-round draft pick in 2007 for the Bee’s parent club, the Kansas City Royals. He spent 2007 in the Arizona Rookie League where he blazed the best ERA of any rookie pitcher.

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WHITE 2-for-4

Elsewhere in the MWL outfielder CHRIS WHITE went 2-for-4 Wednesday night for the West Michigan Whitecaps to lift his batting average to .333.