Dogs deny bid with two-out single in 9th

Matt McSwain was one out away from getting his name added to a select list of South Atlantic League pitchers.

With two outs in the ninth, Austin Krum's grounder hopped just out of reach of Hickory second baseman Greg Picart to break up a no-hitter as the Crawdads shut out the Charleston RiverDogs, 6-0, in front of 2,653 fans at Riley Park on Monday.

McSwain, a converted relief pitcher who was making his sixth start this season, lasted an efficient eight innings before reaching his 85-pitch count. He was pulled in favor of Serguey Linares, who handled the first two outs before giving up Krum's hit.

"I asked (to go out), but they said no chance," McSwain said. "I was happy with eight, but I wanted nine. At first, I was a little disappointed, but they have my best interests in mind."

Hickory manager Gary Green said the decision "was easy."

"We're looking at the big picture," he said. "A no-hitter's nice, but if he gets hurt when he's not supposed to be out there, we have other people to answer to.

"We were thinking about pulling him in the seventh."

The game was delayed 22 minutes in the top of the seventh inning when home plate umpire Ben Robinson suffered a concussion after taking a foul ball off the chin portion of his facemask. He left the game and Mario Seneca took his place behind the plate. It was agreed that Hickory coach Josh Bonifay would finish the game as the field umpire.

During the delay, McSwain went to the bullpen to keep warm and that was the first he was alerted to the possible no-hitter.

"I didn't pay any attention to it until I walked out there and some guy in the first row said 'Hey, No. 1, you've got a no-hitter going,' " he said. "(The delay) took a little out of me, but it didn't affect me too much."

McSwain only had two strikeouts. Even though he walked two, both baserunners were erased with double plays, and he faced the minimum 24 batters through eight innings. It was his longest outing of the year, surpassing the five innings he lasted in each of his past two starts.

Meanwhile, Charleston starting pitcher Lance Pendleton (6-7) was having his best performance since the all-star break but was on the wrong end of a 1-0 score.

Pendleton allowed only four hits and a walk through seven innings.

Hickory (14-23 second half, 44-63 overall) iced the game with five runs in the eighth inning against Jesse Hoover, who didn't record an out before Stephen Artz took over for Charleston (16-19, 61-44).

Coming up

The RiverDogs change opponents as they welcome in the Asheville Tourists, who won the Southern Division's first-half championship.

Asheville's scheduled starter is right-hander Bruce Billings (8-7, 3.73 ERA), who threw a no-hitter against the Lakewood Blueclaws on July 23.

E—Suttle. DP—Hck 2, Chas 1. LOB—Hick 5, Chas 1. 2B—Hague, Huber, McQueary, Simon. SH—Laboy, Picart. SB- Simone.