Hammel, Salas combined for Bulls no-hitter

Published in Sports on July 17, 2006 2:08 PM

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DURHAM -- Jason Hammel and Juan Salas combined for the first no-hitter in Bulls' Triple-A history as Durham knocked off the Columbus Clippers 4-1 on Sunday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

It was only the second no-hitter in the history of Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Hammel began the top of the ninth inning coaxing Kevin Thompson to fly out to Elijah Dukes, but had trouble getting another out. He beaned Russ Johnson, then induced a potential game-ending double play when Carlos Pena grounded to first baseman Wes Bankston. But Bankston booted the ball allowing Pena to reach and Johnson made it to third base when the ball got passed right fielder Delmon Young. With Hammel at 125 pitches, Bulls manager John Tamargo pulled Hammel in favor of Juan Salas.

Salas threw a wild pitch that allowed Johnson to score, but then struck out Mitch Jones and got Terrence Long to ground out to end the game.

Hammel (4-8) got the win for the Bulls, going 81/3 innings, allowing one unearned run on no hits while walking two and striking out six. Juan Salas picked up his second save of the season by getting the last two outs while striking out one. Jorge De Paula (2-5) took the loss for the Clippers, going seven innings while allowing four runs (one earned) on nine hits and a strikeout. Darnell McDonald went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting-streak to 21 games. Brett Butler went 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI, and Kevin Cash went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

The last Durham Bulls no-hitter occurred on April 30, 1995 when Tommy Harrison (8 IP) and Earl Nelson (1 IP) combined to no-hit the Prince William Cannons 4-0 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.