Chiefs' O'Reilly loses no-hit bid in ninth

Edwin Diaz isn't a household name in Minor League Baseball, but you can bet Mike O'Reilly won't forget him anytime soon.
Diaz's single with one out in the ninth inning spoiled O'Reilly's no-hit bid as Class A Peoria held on to defeat Beloit, 1-0, on Saturday night at Dozer Park. 

Besides the one hit, O'Reilly (1-1) struck out a career-high 10 and walked one over 8 1/3 innings in his third start above Rookie ball. The 24-year-old was promoted to Peoria on April 20 and made three relief appearances before moving into the rotation.
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"I started falling behind some guys as I headed into the ninth, and I did to the first guy [Collin Theroux], too," O'Reilly said. "I tried to get ahead of [Diaz], but he put a good swing on a good pitch and got a hit."
That also ended O'Reilly's night. Yeison Medina walked Eric Mariñez to move the tying run into scoring position, but he fanned the last two batters to earn his first save.
O'Reilly retired the first 14 batters until he walked JaVon Shelby with two outs in the fifth. Brian O'Keefe threw out Shelby attempting to steal second, erasing Beloit's lone baserunner until the ninth. 
"I threw a no-hitter when I was 14, but this was obviously a little bit different," the Wading River, New York, native said. "I wasn't really disappointed though. I knew I gave it everything I had, but he got the better of me there.
"I was just happy it was only a single. I gave up a long flyout in the eighth and that's exactly what I didn't want. I was happy with the pitch I made, but he kept his hands in and got it to fall. Thankfully, the bullpen came in and shut the door."
O'Reilly registered six strikeouts in the first five innings, setting a new career high when he whiffed Nate Mondou with one out in the seventh. He was at 88 pitches entering the ninth and fanned his 10th batter to start the frame
"I'm not a big [velocity] guy. I try to put the ball over the plate and let a great defense behind me do the job," O'Reilly said. "I focus on no free passes and keeping the hitters off-balance. When I'm locating well and using my off-speed pitches effectively, that helps me rack up some strikeouts."
The Cardinals' 27th-round pick in last year's Draft has been brought along slowly. O'Reilly posted a 2.48 ERA with a 38-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 40 innings over 11 appearances, including four starts, in the Gulf Coast League in 2016. 
The near-no-hitter lowered O'Reilly's ERA to 1.73 in six appearances. Like last season, the 5-foot-11 hurler continues to show exceptional command with 26 strikeouts and three walks in 26 innings.

O'Keefe went 2-for-3 and smacked a solo homer in the fourth for the Chiefs.
Mitchell Jordan (1-3) allowed one run on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts in six innings and lost his third straight start for Beloit.