Struck pitches rain-shortened no-no

Nick Struck got his work in on Friday. Then he realized he pitched a no-hitter.

Struck faced the minimum over five innings, striking out five, as the Peoria Chiefs posted a rain-shortened 4-0 victory over the Clinton LumberKings.

"I didn't think anything of it and then the fifth inning was over and it kind of hit me what was going on," Struck said. "I don't even really know what's going on right now. I'm excited about it and the whole team is around me, joking around in the clubhouse."

Struck, a 39th-round pick in last year's Draft, issued a walk to James Jones with one out in the second and promptly picked him off. After retiring the side in the fifth, he went to the clubhouse, where the Chiefs (14-8) were signing autographs for children.

Play was halted due to a downpour in the middle of the fifth inning and the game was called 62 minutes later. That's when the 20-year-old right-hander realized what he had accomplished.

It was Peoria's first no-hitter since James Russell, Chris Siegfried, Matt Maradeo and Jose Ceda combined on one against Beloit on Aug. 25, 2007. Mike Aspray pitched the Chiefs' last complete-game no-hitter on Aug. 9, 1988.

"I'm going to get up and get my running in tomorrow," Struck said when asked how he planned to mark the occasion. "We're going to celebrate, but we've got another game to go tomorrow. It's a long season."

Peoria remained the only unbeaten home team in the Minor Leagues, improving to 10-0 at O'Brien Field.

"Our fans are unbelievable when they come out, and we have an incredible feeling when we come home," Struck said. "It's just a fun atmosphere to be in when we're at home and it drives a lot of us to go out and play to our potential."

The Chiefs scored the only run Struck needed in the third on Logan Watkins' RBI single. Greg Rohan hit a solo homer in the fourth and Richard Jones slugged a two-run shot four batters later to make it 4-0.