Baltimore Orioles: Another No-Hitter Down On The Farm

There was another no-hitter thrown down on the farm for the Baltimore Orioles. This one courtesy of the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

While the Baltimore Orioles pitching staff was throwing batting practice to Gleyber Torres on Monday, there was yet another stellar pitching performance down on the farm. Pitching prospects Jake Lyons, James Ryan, and Kyle Martin combined to throw a no-hitter for the short-season Aberdeen Ironbirds, the first in team history.

And yes, the man behind the plate for this combined no-no was none other than the Baltimore Orioles top prospect and sixth-ranked prospect in all of baseball, Adley Rutschman.

Rookie Jake Lyons started the contest, earning his first win as a professional pitcher after tossing five no-hit innings with one walk and five strikeouts. Lyons was a 22nd-round pick of the Orioles this season out of Oklahoma State. Standing at 6’5″, Lyons has been efficient during his brief time as a pro, owning a 27/2 K/BB ratio and limiting opponents to a .192 average through his first 10 appearances (three starts, 22 IP).

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Fellow rookie James Ryan would take over in the sixth inning, throwing three-scoreless frames of his own with no walks and two strikeouts. Ryan was signed as a free agent after the 2019 draft out of St. Katherine College. He made four appearances in the Gulf Coast League before earning a call-up to Aberdeen where he has yet to surrender an earned run in 12.1 innings of work. During that span, he has nine strikeouts to just one walk and is holding hitters to a .182 average.

Manager Kevin Bradshaw used Kyle Martin to close things out and complete the combined no-hitter with a clean ninth inning. Martin struck out all three batters he faced. A 15th-round pick of the Orioles this year out of Fordham, Martin now has 19 strikeouts in 15 innings with the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

Offensively, the Ironbirds piled up seven runs on 13 hits, led by a 4-5 day at the plate for Toby Welk. Welk was drafted out of Division-III Penn State Berks this year and has continued his torrid start as a professional. Highlighted earlier here at Birds Watcher by contributor Chuck Boemmel, Welk is now slashing .354/.410/.497 with 15 extra-base hits.

With a roster mainly of 2019 draft picks, the Ironbirds are now 31-26 and lead the New York-Penn League with a 2.51 team ERA. The next lowest team ERA in the league is 2.98 (Brooklyn Cyclones, New York Mets affiliate). The Aberdeen staff also leads the NYPL in strikeouts with 528 and is tied for the least number of home runs surrendered with 19 in 55 games.

The combined no-hitter comes one day after Top 30 prospects Keegan Akin and Dillon Tate combined to throw a six-hit shutout for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides on Sunday in which they struck out 11 and walked just one hitter.

Congratulations to all three young men and the entire Ironbirds team on their milestone yesterday. This wasn’t the first time we have discussed a major milestone such as this in 2019 and we are sure to be in store for many more over the next few years.