Andres Santiago throws no-hitter for Double-A Chattanooga

Dodgers minor league right-hander Andres Santiago threw a no-hitter on Thursday night, leading Double-A Chattanooga to a 1-0 home win over the Tennessee Smokies, a Cubs affiliate.

The win moved the Lookouts one game ahead of the Smokies in the second half in the North Division of the Southern League, with four games to play. The two teams play each other over the next four days.

Santiago struck out a season-high 12 on the night, and flirted with a perfect game. He retired the first 22 batters before Christian Villanueva walked with one out in the eighth inning. Two pitches before the walk, Villaneuva nearly had the first hit of the game for the Smokies, a roller up the third base line that went foul just before reaching the bag.

The next batter, catcher Charles Cutler, grounded to Corey Seager at shortstop, starting a 6-4-3 to end the inning and the threat.

Santiago struck out the side in the ninth inning and threw a season-high 110 pitches on the night.

The only run of the game came on a home run in the second inning by catcher Chris O'Brien.

Santiago is 6-8 with a 4.47 ERA in 26 games, including 24 starts, on the season, his third in Chattanooga. The 24-year-old right-hander has 95 strikeouts and 53 walks in 132 innings on the season.

Santiago was last on our radar pitching for Puerto Rico in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The Dodgers drafted him in the 16th round of the 2007 draft.

Amazingly, it was the second no-hitter of the day on the farm for the Dodgers, as four pitchers combined for the Arizona Rookie League Dodgers to no-hit the AZL Brewers. Jairo Pacheco struck out eight and walked two over his six scoreless frames, followed by 2014 12th-round pick Kam Uter tossing a scoreless inning with a walk, Yeuri Gonzalez recording two outs in the eighth, then 2014 27th-round pick Harlan Richter got the final four outs to seal the win.