Morales, Sky Sox no-hit Isotopes

It was the mother of all home pitching performances in the 21-year history of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox.

Starter Franklin Morales and three relievers combined on a no-hitter Sunday in the Sky Sox's 5-1 win over the visiting Albuquerque Isotopes. It was only the second no-hitter in franchise history and the first to be achieved at home.

Morales, making his first start for the Sky Sox after spending the early part of the season with the parent Colorado Rockies, allowed one run and six walks while striking out three over five frames to pick up the win.

Lefty Chris George fanned two and walked two in 1 2/3 frames, right-hander Matt Daley struck out two and walked one in 1 1/3 shutout innings and righty Steven Register tossed a perfect ninth, fanning one, to close it out.

"You don't see many nine-walk no-hitters, but we'll take it," Colorado Springs pitching coach Chuck Kniffin said. "(The Isotopes) didn't have a lot of hard-hit balls. It was exciting."

Morales (1-0), a 22-year-old lefty, was 1-2 with a 6.39 ERA in five starts for the parent Rockies before being sent to Tucscon to work with Jimmy Wright, the organization's pitching coordinator.

"He was working on his direction to the plate," Kniffin said. "There were times he'd get out of his delivery, and he was working on the process of staying focused on the glove."

The Isotopes managed their only run in the fourth with the Sky Sox already leading, 3-0. Andrew Beattie walked, moved to second on a throwing error by third baseman Ian Stewart, stole third and scored on Paul Hoover's sacrifice fly.

While Morales issued three walks in that frame, he also posted two timely strikeouts to prevent further scoring.

"He hit a bump in the road in the fourth, but pounded the strike zone and limited the damage, so that's a positive he can take away from that situation," Kniffin said.

The pitching coach also noted that George, who hasn't given up an earned run in his last nine appearances dating back to April 18, "has really been throwing well the last two to three weeks." The other no-hitter in the Colorado Springs record book was a combined effort achieved by Chris Gissell and Jesus Sanchez on Aug. 2, 2003 against the Sounds in Nashville.

The Sky Sox (17-19) got offensive support from Douglas Bernier, who was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs, and Stewart, who smacked two doubles and drove in a run.

Chris Seddon (2-2) allowed three runs on three hits, fanning five and walking two over six innings to take the loss for the Isotopes (19-17).

A 12-game hitting streak for Beattie, who walked three times, came to an end.