Underwood carries no-hitter into seventh

Although he has not experienced it, Duane Underwood imagines pitching a no-hitter would be fun. While he fell three outs short of feeling that joy on Saturday, he still had a good time.

The Cubs' No. 7 prospect carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach settled for a 4-1 victory over Winston-Salem in Game 1 of a doubleheader at BB&T Ballpark.

"We saw some holes in their swings and we took advantage of them. … My fastball command was working in and out of the zone," Underwood said. "My defense made some great plays behind me and [catcher and Cubs' No. 19 prospect Victor Caratini] called a great game."

The 20-year-old right-hander walked Jake Peter -- the White Sox' No. 25 prospect -- in the first, then got Trey Michalczewski, the club's eighth-ranked prospect, to line into a double play. He was perfect for the next five frames, striking out four along the way.

Underwood (2-0) said he had no idea of the brewing milestone until he looked up at the scoreboard in the sixth. Even with that knowledge, he tried to stick with the plan that had gotten him that far.

"I was trying to keep the ball down, trying to keep doing what I was doing, get early, weak contact," he said.

The 2012 second-round Draft pick got that contact in the seventh, but it wasn't as weak as he would have liked. White Sox' No. 20 prospect Adam Engel slapped a ground ball up the middle and into center field for the Dash's first hit of the game. Peter followed with a single to right that ended Underwood's day.

"I looked at it and [Engel] hit a good pitch. It was a good breaking ball, it was down in the zone and it went right past me," he said. "I made some good pitches and they found some holes."

With Starling Peralta on the mound, Engel came around to score, charging Underwood with his first earned run of the season. The reliever worked around a walk to Michalczewski to pick up his first save.

"I trust [manager Mark Johnson] and they probably saw something and they made a move on it, and Peralta came in," Underwood said. "I did my job and [Peralta] did his -- we got the win."

In his Carolina League debut on April 9, Underwood held Wilmington to an unearned run on four hits and two walks while striking out five over five innings. 

"To throw a no-hitter would be fun," he said. "I had a lot of fun out there today. I was able to keep the team in the ballgame and get the team the win."

Winston-Salem starter Robinson Leyer (0-2) yielded four runs on five hits while striking out six over 5 1/3 frames.

Myrtle Beach completed the sweep with an 8-4 triumph as Cubs No. 9 prospect Billy McKinney and No 15 prospect Jeimer Candelario collected three hits and two RBIs apiece across the doubleheader. Jacob Rogers drove in three runs.

"Those guys are great. They do a great job getting into good hitters' situations with runners on, moving guys over and hitting into the gap," Underwood said. "They're amazing."