What's in a date? For Rome, a pair of no-no's

On June 7, 2005, Braves prospects James Parr and Angelo Burrows combined to throw a no-hitter for the Rome Braves against the Savannah Sand Gnats, a then-Mets affiliate.

As fate would have it, exactly 18 years later, Atlanta prospects Daniel Martinez and Luis Vargas combined to no-hit the Hickory Crawdads, 3-0, at AdventHealth Stadium.

It’s the High-A affiliate’s first no-hitter of any length since Luis De Avila spun a seven-inning gem in 2022.

“It’s something that we know is happening, but we don’t want to talk about it,” manager Angel Flores said. “Martinez and Vargas, they came in and did a really good job … they executed perfectly.”

Indeed, the two right-handers put on a show. Martinez, the starter, fanned eight over 4 2/3 frames, and Vargas finished it off with 4 1/3 perfect innings, needing just 29 pitches (20 strikes) to set down the Crawdads in the latter half of the game. He didn’t strike out a batter, but he didn’t need to.

“It takes a lot of game planning, and they stuck to the plan,” Flores said. “They did a really good job attacking the hitters and throwing strikes. … A lot of credit to our catcher [Adam Zebrowski] for putting the right fingers down.”

Flores would know a thing or two about catchers in historic feats. A former backstop himself, the first-year manager was behind the dish for a perfect game back in 2007 with the Oneonta Tigers of the New York-Penn League. In that blanking, Flores caught righty Guillermo Moscoso for all nine innings.

For Flores, being part of a no-hitter as a player and a manager comes with the exact same feeling -- exhilaration.

“After the first out of the ninth inning tonight, it kind of got me back to that day,” Flores said. “It’s a great feeling. As a player, it’s the best thing that could happen to you. Seeing it as a manager… I have no words to describe it.”

The win didn’t come without adversity. Martinez walked two batters in the first frame and faced runners on first and second with one out in the third, and both times he was able to escape, lowering his ERA to 1.46 on the season.

Vargas, who came into the game with a 5.89 ERA, put together his first hitless outing since April 12 of last year. Atlanta's No. 19 prospect Geraldo Quintero drove in all three runs for the Braves with two singles.