Lúcio Juárez
In front of a matinee crowd of almost 50,000, Juárez methodically mowed down the Brooklyn hitters. He worked around two baserunners who reached on error. The first of these was a hard hit ground ball to shortstop António Hernández with an exit velocity of over 107 MPH that allowed Brooklyn DH Lawrence Miranda to reach first base with one out in the fourth inning. Juárez quickly retired the next two batters with a strikeout and a routine groundball to second baseman Paul Mallett.
In the next inning, Juárez had no one but himself to blame for the second error, as he muffed a routine comebacker that allowed leadoff hitter Pablo Lara to reach first. Robins center fielder Wilson Prieto followed with a groundball to the right side that allowed the speedy Lara to go first-to-third with only one out. Juárez bore down, popping up Francisco García and then getting Chao Yuan to ground out to Mallett to preserve the no-hitter.
The next two innings were of the three-up, three-down variety. But with one out in the eighth inning, pinch hitter Frank Liyongo lined the second pitch that he saw over shortstop to break up the no-hitter. As before, Juárez stranded him, easily dispatching the next two Robins to end the inning.
Fans were wondering if Juárez would come out for the ninth with a six run lead. His pitch count was at 94. They cheered wildly as he strode out the mound to face the top of the Brooklyn order. It took eight pitches to retire leadoff man Alfredo Trujillo, who finally lined out to right fielder Roosevelt Davis. Miranda, up next, lined the first pitch to left fielder Clancy Lee, who gloved it for the second out. Emilio Morales, Jr., ended things when he hit a routine ground ball to shortstop.
Juárez received a standing ovation. His game score of 88 was the Blazers' best of the season, tied for second best in the Johnson League this season. He struck out three and allowed no walks.