Diamondbacks prospect Blayne Weller throws a no-hitter

photo courtesy of missoulian.com

The Diamondbacks big league club was off Thursday night before beginning their final series before the All Star break against the Giants, but the organization as a whole still made plenty of headlines. I love keeping track of what happens in the minor leagues night in and night out and last night was pretty special.

Right hander Blayne Weller, a starter for the Single-A South Bend Silver Hawks pitched the best game of his professional career last night in the Hawks 7-1 road win over the Dayton Dragons. The 24 year old native of Key West Florida tossed his first professional no-hitter, striking out a career high 12 batters.

Whats remarkable about this story is that heading into last nights game, Weller had not gone more than six innings in a game this season. According to arizonasports.com, he improved his record to 5-4 and his era now sits at 4.03.

In addition to no-hitter, Silver Hawks infielder Andrew Velazquez reached base for the 69th consecutive time, which is only two shy of the minor league record held by former major leaguers Kevin Youkillis and and Kevin Millar. He reached base on a triple and walked three times.

Last night was an exciting night for the organization. Congratulations to Weller on a remarkable outing. So far in the second half, the Silver Hawks are 14-6 and have a 3.0 game lead in the Midwest League Eastern Division.