Voyagers' Solorzano spins five-inning no-no

Five innings was all Yosmer Solorzano was going to go Sunday afternoon.

"Our whole starting staff has been doing exceptional lately, that we just kind of needed to get some bullpen guys some work before the end of the regular season," Rookie-level Great Falls pitching coach Matt Zaleski said.

Fortunately, five frames was all he needed.

Just 15 days after tossing seven innings of the team's no-hitter against Helena, the White Sox right-hander was credited with a rain-shortened no-no as he struck out nine and walked one over five frames in the Voyagers' 5-0 win over the Missoula Osprey at Centene Stadium at Legion Park.

Solorzano (9-3) retired 15 of 16 batters -- fanning the final five -- and gave up only a one-out walk to Jasrado Chisholm in the first inning. Rain came down throughout the afternoon, but the 19-year-old remained unaffected by the conditions.

"He threw a lot of strikes with everything," Zaleski said. "His fastball and slider were on and he was locating them both down and to both sides of the plate. He had pretty much everything going for him again."

The pitching coach decided to end his starter's day after he struck out the side in the fifth, but the game went into a rain delay before he got the chance. When the game was eventually called and the no-hitter made official, Zaleski went to personally deliver the news to an unaware Solorzano.

"We told him that and he was definitely overjoyed," Zaleski said. "I don't know how many times that's happened in the Minor Leagues. It's something you've got to feel proud about."

The native of the Dominican Republic earned his fifth straight win in the process. He's given up nine runs and 17 hits while walking five and striking out 41 over 33 innings in that span, slashing his ERA from 5.17 to 4.11. Zaleski said Solorzano's maturation has been apparent since mid-August.

"Early on in the season, you kind of want to get your strikeouts up there, it's higher intensity," he said. "The last three starts, it looks like when he gets ahead in the count he's not necessarily throwing the exceptional slider, he's just throwing a good one down [in the zone] and getting strikeouts that way. He's not having to go deep in counts and get taken out early in the game because he wasted some pitches."

As a staff, Great Falls became the first Pioneer League team to throw two no-hitters in the same season since Billings in 1975. Salvatore Ferrara threw for the Mustangs against Lethbridge on July 14 before Bernard Plent and Charles Moore combined on the feat against the Voyagers 13 days later.

"That's awesome. It really is," Zaleski said. "All the credit goes to the pitchers. The first game, Solo and the bullpen did an outstanding job, and today Solo did an outstanding job. It's just been outstanding to be a part of."

Osprey starter Kai-Wei Lin (1-3) yielded five runs on five hits and a walk while fanning two over five innings.