Link Report for Wed. 7/3 - OH MOYE! Andy's Huntsville no-hit attempt broken up after 8.1 innings

[Mass Haas]

VIDEO: Nashville's Hunter Morris hits a three-run homer as the Sounds rout Round Rock, 10-1, on Wednesday

[Mass Haas]

Stars' Moye loses no-hit bid in ninth

Brewers prospect fans two over career-high 8 1/3 innings

By Jake Seiner / MiLB.com

 

Andy Moye ranks second in the Southern League with two complete games. (Huntsville Stars File Photo)

 

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The last time Andy Moye threw a no-hitter, he was a callup to his big brother's Little League team.

 

"I threw a combined no-hitter with my older brother [Joey] when I was 10," the Brewers prospect said. "That's the closest I've gotten."

 

Moye flirted with history on a slightly larger stage Wednesday night, carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning as Double-A Huntsville blanked Chattanooga, 2-0.

 

The accomplishment eluded him as he gave up a one-out single. But he logged a career-high 8 1/3 innings en route to his first win in nearly a month.

 

Moye (4-9) struck out two batters and walked three. Leadoff man Rafael Ynoa got the Lookouts' base knock, driving a fastball back up the middle that Moye stabbed at but could not field.

 

"He put the barrel on it and hit it pretty hard," Moye said. "[Catcher Adam] Weisenburger said that I just missed it, that it just went under my glove."

 

The 103rd pitch was the last for Moye as he was pulled for Kevin Shackelford. His stroll off the mound was met by thunderous applause from the 6,162 fans at Joe W. Davis Municipal Stadium for Fourth of July fireworks and Second Amendment Night.

 

"That was very warming," Moye said. "We had a pretty big crowd tonight with the Fourth of July thing and us hitting the road tomorrow. To get that respect from the fans, that's always very overwhelming. It felt good to have them behind me. That was nice."

 

The Brewers' 15th round pick in the 2011 Draft has come a long way since the combined no-hitter with his brother. The 25-year-old right-hander has been on a steady climb through the Milwaukee system since being assigned to the Rookie-level Pioneer League in 2011, reaching Double-A to begin this season.

 

Moye struggled early to find an effective approach in the Southern League, but he's made strides recently that he thinks have led to a few strong performances. Wednesday's gem came after he held Birmingham to two earned runs on seven hits over eight innings with six strikeouts and no walks.

 

"One thing I've learned with this league that I didn't do early on is just attacking these hitters," he said. "It's my first year in Double-A and it's a learning experience, as coach says sometimes. I've learned to attack guys and just try to pound the zone with all my pitches and see what happens.

 

"I didn't get ahead quite as well in the outing before, but I had similar results. I'm just trying to go right at guys. I think that's been the term for me this year."

 

The Georgia Southern product retired his first 10 batters and faced the minimum throughfive innings -- Joc Pederson walked in the fourth, but Moye picked him off first base.

 

"Early in the game, I'm always in the mind-set to attack with the fastball," he said. "Usually, my changeup is my best pitch, but I wasn't feeling it early in the game, although it came along a little later.

 

"I had the curve working, though, and the second time through the order, I was able to flip that up there and get ahead."

 

Moye also walked Miguel Rojas leading off the sixth but stranded him at second after a sacrifice. Rojas walked again with two outs in the eighth, but Moye retired Jan Vazquez on a popup to shortstop.

 

After also getting Brian Cavazos-Galvez to pop up to start the ninth, he allowed the single to Ynoa that ended his outing.

 

"It's one of those things where you try not to think about [the no-hitter]," Moye said. "But you can see the scoreboard and you know the situation. I was trying to go out in the ninth and just see the pitches that [Weisenburger] puts down. It was one of those things where the guy came up and I gave him a fastball and he put a good barrel on it."

 

Huntsville totaled only three hits, but Brock Kjeldgaard provided the only support Moye needed with a solo homer, his 14th. Jason Rogers singled in an insurance run in the sixth.