Davis loses no-hit bid in eighth

Erik Davis may have just one month of Double-A experience under his belt, but he looked right at home in his final outing of the season Sunday.

The 23-year-old right-hander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning as the San Antonio Missions blanked the Corpus Christi Hooks, 3-0.

Davis lost the no-hit bid when Wladimir Sutil singled leading off the eighth. But he turned a three-run lead over to Evan Scribner after recording a season-high 10 strikeouts.

"It feels great to end the season in a positive way and, hopefully, I can go into next season with some momentum," the Stanford University product said.

"I really didn't have much working. I made the pitches when I needed to, the defense made plays behind me and [catcher] Luis Martinez put down the right fingers."

Davis improved to 4-0 with a 2.75 ERA in seven Texas League starts after going 9-3 with a 3.82 ERA in the hitter-friendly California League earlier this season. He also won his lone start for Triple-A Portland on July 23.

Lake Elsinore earlier in the season. Davis had a 1-0 lead to work with before taking the mound, then set down his first 12 batters. J.D. Martinez became the Hooks' first baserunner when he drew a leadoff walk in the fifth.

By then, the Missions had a 3-0 advantage, which proved more than enough for the 2008 13th-round Draft pick. He worked around a two-out walk in the sixth and a leadoff error in the seventh to keep the no-hitter intact.

"I won't strike out a ton of guys, so there is a lot of luck with guys hitting the ball at people," Davis said. "But you never have any doubts that a ground ball or fly ball will result in an out."

Davis, who tossed six two-hit innings on Tuesday against Midland, lost his attempt at history when Sutil singled to center field. But he pitched into the eighth for the first time in his career.

"I was trying to go inside with a fastball and [Sutil] took it back up the middle," he said. "Nobody said anything to me [in the dugout], but I have been around the game long enough, so I knew all about [the no-hitter]."

Scribner came on for the ninth after Davis threw 64 of 107 pitches for strikes.

"I was done," he said. "I was feeling pretty tired because I hadn't really gone more than five or six this year, so I was feeling it when I went out there in the seventh. It was pretty hot and humid in Corpus.

"I have been really impressed with Evan. He has two great pitches that he throws for strikes, and his curveball is one of the best in the league. You never have any doubts that he'll put up zeros. This was a good way to end the year for all of us."