Weigel flirts with no-hitter for Rome

Patrick Weigel's goal in every start is to make anyone who walks into the stadium unsure of whether he's winning or losing just by how he carries himself on the mound.

The Braves' No. 29 prospect took a no-hitter into the seventh before striking out eight over a career-high 7 2/3 innings on Saturday as Class A Rome blanked West Virginia, 10-0, in front of 3,188 at State Mutual Field.

"I felt pretty good coming into today's start," said Weigel, who ended up allowing three hits without issuing a walk. "Me and catcher [Jonathan] Morales had a good game plan to establish the fastball early. Our offense came out and put a lot of runs up early. From that point, it was just about filling up the strike zone and pitching to contact."

Weigel (6-4) already had a four-run cushion after the first and he faced the minimum through the third before Casey Hughston reached on a dropped third strike leading off the fourth.

"Our offense came out on fire tonight," the 2015 seventh-round pick said. "My job is to get us back in the dugout, so get strike one and go from there. The offense made my job easier and so did the defense. All-around, our defense was outstanding, and it made my job easy to fill up the zone and trust the plays are going to be made behind me."

Weigel cruised into the seventh with the no-no intact before Carlos Munoz broke it up with a two-out, bloop single to right field. 

"I'd be lying if I said [the no-hitter] didn't cross my mind," the 22-year-old right-hander said with a laugh. "I definitely was aware of what was going on. But you know, I went 3-1 to Munoz and he put a good swing on the ball and got the hit. And from there on out, it was about trying to get to the end of the game and finish it out."

The California native gave up two singles to start the eighth. But on his final pitch of the night, John Bormann hit a liner to the pitcher, who grabbed it and fired to first for a double play.

Chase Johnson-Mullins made his Class A debut in relief of Weigel and allowed one hit over the final 1 1/3 innings. 

"I still felt good on the mound [in the eighth]," Weigel said. "I came back [after the back-to-back hits] and was able to throw strike one and we ended up turning two, and that's when the skip came and got me. Mullins is nasty. I had no doubt in the world he could get that last out [and finish it]."

The University of Houston product pitched to a 3.42 ERA over 55 1/3 innings in his first 10 starts but has compiled a 2.17 ERA in 49 2/3 frames over his last eight outings. He's second in the South Atlantic League with 105 innings pitched and of the circuit's 10 starters who've thrown at least 100 innings, Weigel has allowed the fewest hits (79).

"I've made some mechanical adjustments throughout the year along the way," he said. "In terms of mentally, for me, a big thing is just staying present in the moment and focusing on one pitch at a time, winning each pitch. If you're focused on the pitch ahead of you, you're not worried about what happened in the past. It's helped me a lot this year."

Morales doubled and drove in three runs for Rome, while Braves No. 6 prospect Austin Riley went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.

West Virginia starter Bret Helton (6-7) surrendered eight runs -- seven earned -- on seven hits and two walks while fanning two over 2 2/3 innings.