Guzman Pitches Six No-Hit Innings, CT Tigers Top Tri-City

TROY, N.Y. - Carlos Guzman allowed one baserunner in six innings before he left a no-hitter and the Connecticut Tigers (25-29) held on for a 2-1 road win over the first-place Tri-City ValleyCats (33-24) on Thursday night at Bruno Stadium.

Guzman (Win, 3-3) retired the first three batters before he issued a leadoff walk to Tri-City designated hitter Alex Holderbach in the second inning. Two batters later, Guzman induced a 4-6-3 double play and proceeded to face the minimum through six complete innings. The 20-year-old righty from Venezuela struck out three batters with one walk and threw 75 pitches.

The Tigers gave Guzman a 2-0 lead in the top of the third. Tri-City starter Mark Moclair (Loss, 2-4) walked Connecticut shortstop Wenceel Perez. The speedy 18-year-old stole two bases and scored from third on a wild pitch by Moclair. Moments later, catcher Gresuan Silverio tallied the lone RBI for Connecticut on a two-out, RBI single to center field that allowed Clark Brinkman to score from second base.

Tigers reliever Arvicent Perez (Hold, 3) inherited the no-hitter to begin the seventh inning and allowed a one-out single to ValleyCats second baseman Austin Dennis on a liner to left field. Tri-City cut the deficit to 2-1 with an unearned run against Dylan Stock (Hold, 3) in the eighth. Following a leadoff single, Trey Dawson scored from first base on a fielding error by Dayton Dugas but the right fielder recovered and hit cutoff man Jeremiah Burks, who fired to third base and Shane Cooper tagged out Nate Perry to empty the bases and extinguish the Tri-City rally.

All-Star closer Yaya Chentouf (Save, 9) rebounded from his first blown save as a pro last Sunday to strand the tying run at second base in the ninth with a strikeout to end the ballgame. 

Connecticut finished with three base hits on Thursday to match its season-low in a win. The Tigers improved to 8-17 on the road this season and moved to 6 1/2 games behind the Stedler Division-leading ValleyCats with 20 games remaining.

Next up, Connecticut will host a seven-game homestand beginning Friday at 7:05 p.m. against the Aberdeen IronBirds on Military Appreciation Night presented by the Better Business Bureau. The first 1,000 fans through the gate at Dodd Stadium will receive a 2018 CT Military Heroes Card Set and postgame fireworks presented by Liberty Bank will immediately follow the contest. Coverage on the Norwich Courtyard by Marriott Connecticut Tigers Radio Network begins at 6:50 p.m. with Kevin Gehl and Elijah Gonzalez on WICH 1310 AM and online at CTTigers.com.

The Connecticut Tigers are the New York-Penn League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Connecticut. Individual tickets for all 2018 home games, season memberships to "The Club," ticket mini-plans, and Tigers team merchandise are now on sale at Dodd Stadium, by phone at 860-887-7962, and online at CTTigers.com.