Dahlstrand, Salem spin shortened no-no

Another year, another wet Opening Day, another slice of Red Sox history.

Last season, it was Jake Dahlstrand calling his buddy -- Boston's top pitching prospect Henry Owens -- to congratulate him on his rain-shortened no-hitter. On Thursday evening, Dahlstrand might be waiting for his own phone to ring after getting an assist from Mother Nature to write his own name into the record books.

The right-hander struck out four batters over six hitless innings and Joe Gunkel retired the only batter he faced in the seventh before the rain came as Class A Advanced Salem Red Sox no-hit host Carolina, 2-0.

It was the 11th no-no in Salem history and the first in the Carolina League since Lynchburg's Aaron Northcraft accomplished the feat in the second game of a twinbill against Salem on June 22, 2012.

"Me and Henry are pretty good friends, so that was awesome," said Dahlstrand, who reached out to Owens last April 3 after he logged a six-inning no-no for Portland against Reading. "I told him congratulations and he had a pretty great season after that.

"[Tonight] I felt good. My defense really helped me out and I was getting ahead early with my off-speed stuff and keeping them off balance. That allowed me to throw my fastball away to get them to hit ground balls and dribblers."

Selected by the Red Sox in the 10th round of the 2010 Draft, Dahlstrand issued two walks and threw 48 of 75 pitches for strikes. The 6-foot-5 hurler came out shortly after the rain started, but it was his pitch count, not the weather, which dictated his exit.

Salem was called off the field shortly after reliever Gunkel induced a ground ball off the bat of Dustin Peterson. The rain delay lasted 42 minutes before the game was called and the no-hitter finalized.

The last such feat Dahlstrand was part of came in his senior year at Memorial High School in Texas in 2010. That game was also shortened, that time by the mercy rule.

"I feel like Gunkel would have gotten it done anyway," Dahlstrand said of the weather-affected milestone. "He has great stuff. But after the fifth, the rain started coming down pretty good. I'm pretty sure I had reached my pitch count and that they wanted to get Gunkel some innings. They usually start us off slowly to work our arms back into it slowly."

The 23-year-old went 8-5 with a 2.90 ERA in 28 games last year, including six starts. He pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen in Greenville before moving up to the Carolina League, where the Red Sox stretched him out in the rotation.

"I have been a starting pitcher for a while, but they wanted to see how I could work out of the bullpen (last season)," Dahlstrand said. "I'm starting to figure out the starting role. Tonight, I was just trying to stay within myself and not trying to overthink it.

"(Manuel) Margot was awesome in center and my whole infield made some great plays to back me up. Me and my catcher, Jake Romanski, were on and I didn't have to shake him off once."

Dahlstrand benefited from an early lead and he never looked back. Margot went 3-for-3 out of the leadoff spot and second baseman Wendell Rijo hit a two-run homer in the second.

Carolina's Yean Carlos Gil took the loss for the Mudcats after surrendering two earned runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings.