Rodriguez takes no-no to ninth for Tourists

Helmis Rodriguez came within two outs of his first career no-hitter. An hour after it fell by the wayside, he hadn't lost any of his enthusiasm for the outing.

The Rockies' No. 28 prospect allowed one run on one hit over a career-high 8 1/3 innings, and his team rallied to victory in extras as Class A Asheville outlasted Rome, 3-1, in 10 innings. He struck out four and walked four.
    
"When I saw the situation after the eighth inning, I just said I want to throw the ninth inning like my first inning," Rodriguez said. "That's all I've got to do."

The left-hander spun a gem through eight, facing the minimum through four frames while allowing just one runner to reach scoring position.

"My thing tonight was my aggressiveness," Rodriguez said. "I competed. That's what I felt, because in the game, I didn't have all my pitches really nasty like a couple starts ago. I just competed a lot and competed with everything I had."

He and Australian backstop Robbie Perkins found a good way to keep Rome's hitters off balance.

"The thing Robbie Perkins told me was, 'Keep the ball down. We've got to be ahead in counts. I've got you. If you don't want to throw [certain] pitches, just let me know.' I felt so comfortable with Robbie. He's a really good catcher calling pitches."

With two outs between him and history, Rodriguez came up just short as the Tourists clung to a 1-0 lead. After hitting Rome's Stephen Gaylor to start the ninth, Rodriguez induced a popout on a bunt attempt by Omar Obregon. Luke Dykstra followed with a fly to left that got just by the outstretched glove of Ryan Stephens for a game-tying RBI double.

"When I saw it, I was like, 'Go Stephens, you can catch it,'" Rodriguez said. "I've got to be honest. He did all he could. It was so pretty how he did tonight because earlier in the game he had one like that. He made a really good effort."

Having totaled 107 pitches, Rodriguez's night came to a close after the hit.

The southpaw's bullpen held the line, and his team's bats came back to life. Yoely Bello (4-3) retired the final two batters of the ninth to strand Dykstra, and after Cesar Galvez walked with one out in the 10th, Stephens came through with an RBI triple to right to give the Tourists the lead again. Stephens scored one batter later on Omar Carrizales' sacrifice fly to center.

"Sometimes it happens," Rodriguez said of his no-decision. "I threw 8 1/3 innings, and they got just one run for me. The only thing in my head was I just had to give a chance to win. If I don't get a win, who cares? I just want the win for everyone, for my team. It's not about me. It's about my team."

Josh Michalec pitched a perfect ninth, recording three groundouts on the way to his 27th save.