Devenski, Hader toss Hooks' first no-no

The last time Chris Devenski had a no-hitter going, he was aware of his effort and forced to depart after reaching his pitch limit. On Friday night, he had no idea he was making history for the Corpus Christi Hooks.

Devenski did the heavy lifting in the first no-hitter in Hooks history, striking out four and walking one over five innings as Corpus Christi beat Arkansas, 4-0, in a rain-shortened contest called with one out in the bottom of the sixth.

"Honestly, I had no idea [it was a no-hitter]," Devenski said shortly after the game was called. "I was jump-roping, doing what I do after my game and they said it was called. They said it was a no-hitter, and I was like, 'What?' I had no idea."

The 24-year-old right-hander continued a dominant season with his second hitless outing of the year. On April 25, he pitched 6 1/3 hitless innings and earned the win in a 16-1 rout at Frisco. On Friday, he looked just as strong, especially after correcting an early issue.

"That first inning, I wanted to mix all my pitches in, which I did, but the only thing was my changeup wasn't on in that first inning," he said. "I was kind of angry with myself at that time. After I got out of that first inning, I went into the dugout and told myself, 'Hey, you've got to keep going out there and throwing that changeup.' It just wasn't up to par the way I like it in that first inning. I went back out there, kept working on it and got that locked in."

Devenski walked the third batter he faced, then retired the next 13. The Cal State-Fullerton product credited much of his success to that in-game improvement with the changeup.

"It's big-time," he said. "That's a pitch that I throw a lot and I can do a lot of things with that pitch. It wasn't there, but it was big on my part making that adjustment. The adjustment I made was just to throw it harder and get the arm speed going. I was able to do that, and things worked out."

After throwing 57 pitches, Devenski exited after the fifth with rain on the way. Astros No. 9 prospect Josh Hader took over and, after walking Jared Mitchell, retired Drew Maggi on a comebacker before play was halted.

"It's pretty cool," said Devenski, who threw a no-hitter for Class A Lexington in 2012. "Me and [catcher Roberto] Pena went to go take some pictures and we forgot that Hader pitched, too. Hader had to get involved in the pictures and he was already showering at that time. We called him back out to get in his jersey to take some pictures. It was all good. I was kind of shocked."

After allowing a single run in each of his previous three outings, Devenski turned in his sixth scoreless performance of the year to improve to 6-0 with a microscopic 0.59 ERA.

"The thing is I'm not satisfied. I want more," he said. "I want to go out there and prove myself to myself, work hard every day and continue to concentrate on leaving my mark."

Tony Kemp, the Astros' No. 14 prospect, doubled, drove in a run and scored another on a two-hit night to lead the Corpus Christi offense.