Baysox's Liz tosses no-hitter
Liz tossed the Bowie Baysox's first no-hitter in nearly two years, retiring the last 17 batters he faced in a 5-0 blanking of the Harrisburg Senators.
The 23-year-old right-hander struck out eight and walked three to remain unbeaten in seven starts since April 25. He appeared to be in total control as he finished off the first complete game of his three-year career.
"I wasn't really thinking about it the whole game," Liz said. "I did a bit in the seventh, and in the eighth I started to get a bit nervous. When I came out in the ninth, I knew I had to hold it together if I wanted to do this."
With one out to go, left fielder Ruddy Yan raced into the corner to snare a drive off the bat of Juan Melo.
"For a minute, I didn't believe it," Liz said. "I was like, 'Did he catch it, did he catch it?' I was relieved when I saw he caught it."
"I had to run that down 100 percent," Yan said. "I just ran for it as hard as I could and I caught it."
A non-drafted free agent who signed with Baltimore in February 2003, Liz (4-2) pitched the first five innings of a combined no-hitter for Class A Frederick last April 12. On Friday, he threw 120 pitches.
"I wasn't really thinking about how many pitches I threw," Liz said. "I didn't believe that I did it. I was glad I was able to make it through the whole game."
Matt Bailie pitched Bowie's last no-hitter on Aug. 14, 2005 against Erie. It's the only other nine-inning gem in team history.
Val Majewski provided the offensive support for Liz, delivering an RBI single in the fourth and a two-run base hit in the eighth. Luis Hernandez went 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the eighth and two runs scored for the Baysox (28-26).
Senators starter Collin Balester (2-3) was the hard-luck loser after allowing two runs on seven hits over seven innings. He struck out five without issuing a walk.
Josh Whitesell, Cristian Guerrero and Wade Robinson walked for Harrisburg (19-35), which has lost four of its last five games.
Michael Blinn is a contributor to MLB.com.