Kyle Ryan has 69 strikeouts over 109 1/3 innings this season. (Emily Jones/MiLB.com)
By Ashley Marshall / Special to MLB.com
07/29/2011 1:20 AM ET
Tigers prospect Kyle Ryan turned in the best start of his career Thursday, but he was left wondering what might have been as he watched the outcome from the dugout railing.
The left-hander threw six no-hit innings for the Class A West Michigan Whitecaps on Thursday, but he left empty-handed when the Lansing Lugnuts rallied against the bullpen to seal an 8-4 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. "I stayed and watched that seventh inning and it was pretty rough," Ryan said. "It was irritating to see it happen, but that's life. This isn't a 'me' sport, it's a 'team' sport."
Ryan -- who struck out three and walked three -- faced two batters above the minimum, did not allow a runner to reach second and left with a 4-0 lead, but he wound up without a decision when the Lugnuts tied the game in the seventh inning and then added four more runs in the eighth.
"The fastball, the slider, the change-up, everything was there tonight. This would probably rank No. 1," said Ryan, selected in the 10th round of the 2010 Draft."The first thing that came to mind was that I wanted to get the first three batters of the game. I got them out and from there I just wanted to keep it that way. Curt [Casali] did a great job catching me."
The 19-year-old walked Bryson Namba with one out in the third to snap a string of seven consecutive outs, but he retired the next two batters to keep Lansing off the board. In the next inning, Ryan issued a two-out free pass to Marcus Knecht, but he picked him off first base to end the threat.
The Florida native walked Oliver Dominguez in the fifth frame before setting down the final four batters he faced.
"I'm not really a no-hit guy. I'm more of a ground-ball guy who gives up hits on balls through the hole. I was expecting to come back out in the seventh. But my pitching coach [Mark Johnson] shook my hand, told me I threw the ball well and that he could tell I did a good job from looking at the scoreboard."
Ryan (4-8) lowered his Midwest League ERA to 3.46, but he is winless in his last seven starts despite allowing two or fewer runs in five of those games. On July 3, Ryan set down 14 of the first 16 Fort Wayne TinCaps he faced and took a shutout into the sixth, but he failed to pick up a win in that game in a walk-off 2-1 loss.
"I've not got a win in I don't know how long, but I don't really care," Ryan said. "A lot of people in the organization don't look at wins and losses. It's more about how you're pitching. I wish I could give up less runs and less hits."
If the no-hitter had been completed, it would have been West Michigan's first since Calvin Chipperfield's seven-inning no-no against Kane County in June 13, 2000. There have been three in franchise history.
Now in his second year in the Detroit organization, Ryan went 2-4 with a 4.17 ERA in 12 starts for the Tigers' Gulf Coast League affiliate last season.
On Thursday, Lansing benefited from two errors, a passed ball and a wild pitch to plate four unearned seventh-inning runs on the strength of three singles and a walk. Clemente Mendoza (1-3) took the loss for the Whitecaps, yielding four runs on three hits and a walk in the following inning.
Dayton Marze (4-5) earned the victory for Lansing, tossing 1 2/3 hitless innings of relief.
The Lugnuts also took the nightcap, 3-2.
Ashley Marshall is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
Fri Jul 29, 2011 8:03 pm