Lone Star foes becomes allies as Rangers hurlers twirl gems to Astros catcher

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Here’s something you don’t see every day.

A trio of Rangers pitching prospects worked with an Astros catcher to carry a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Friday night at the Peoria Sports Complex.

Alas, a single by Luis Lara (MIL No. 17) prevented the Surprise Saguaros from recording the first Arizona Fall League no-no in exactly eight years, but that didn’t take the shine off a lights-out effort from starter Leandro Lopez and Co. in a 2-1 win over the Peoria Javelinas.

And where else could you see future Lone Star Series foes making a run at history together?

Astros backstop prospect Collin Price never thought he’d be trying to lock down what was essentially a Rangers no-hitter.

“No. Absolutely not -- especially since I faced them probably three or four times this season because they’re in our league," Price said. "Normally I want to get hits off them, and tonight we’re trying to get everybody out. It’s part of the fun.”

Lopez, who was limited to 13 innings at High-A Hickory this season because of shoulder and elbow injuries, started it off with three hitless innings, striking out seven and walking one.

“I felt good,” Lopez said via interpreter and Saguaros second baseman Milan Tolentino (Guardians). “I’m bouncing back from a few OK starts and have been throwing the ball well recently, so glad I was able to continue.”

Lopez's focus, aside from getting in more reps, is on being aggressive against hitters and minimizing walks, looking to get hitters out early in the count as much as possible.

“Attack. Attack early. And once that builds, I can do other things after that,” he said. “My best pitch is the fastball up, then curveball down and slider off the plate.”

Rangers No. 25 prospect Josh Stephan took over to start the bottom of the fourth and continued his excellent Fall League campaign with four hitless innings, striking out five. Stephan leads the league with a 0.54 ERA. To put that in perspective: The ERA for the AFL as a whole is 6.12.

Another Texas prospect, Avery Weems, relieved in the eighth. The southpaw gave up the Javelinas’ first hit but kept them off the board.

Three Rangers pitchers, guided through 7 1/3 no-hit innings by an Astros catcher.

“I can’t really take much credit for it,” Price said. “They just worked really hard, all their pitches were working, so it kind of makes it easy on me. Whenever I can call any pitch at any time, it makes my job easy. Just trusting their best stuff and letting it work.”

It’s fun to make that Lone Star connection, but Lopez said he doesn’t really think about that.

“You’re just trying to do your job, and he’s trying to do his job,” he said. “Right now we have a pretty good thing going, and I’m glad it’s working out.”

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Lopez signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in January 2021 and he spent ‘21 and ‘22 playing in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League. He had an impressive stateside debut in 2023 at Single-A Down East, posting a 3.32 ERA in 57 innings, but the injury bug bit hard this season at Hickory.

Lopez is hoping a solid Fall League campaign will tee him up for Spring Training, though, and a healthy 2025 season.

“You know how the years are," he said. "You prepare and you try to give everything you can, but [injuries happen]. I’m just glad I’m able to show what I’ve got now.”