Aug 2, 2022 3 min read

The Gateway Grizzlies were in an uncomfortable spot entering their game Tuesday night against the Wild Things.

Not only did the Grizzlies, who are in the thick of the playoff race, have to face a Wild Things team that is in first place in the Frontier League’s East Division and was coming off a series sweep of East-leading Quebec, but the Grizzlies had to do it without five pitchers, and their trainer, all of whom have tested positive for COVID-19 and did not make the trip. And Gateway’s Lukas Veinbergs, a rookie pitcher out of the University of Missouri, was making an emergency start, his first as a professional after 11 relief appearances.

Veinbergs, however, proved to be the perfect tonic for the Grizzlies, who entered the night with a team ERA of 5.38.

The right-hander took a no-hitter into the ninth inning and combined with reliever Sam Gardner on a one-hit shutout as Gateway won, 4-0, snapping Washington’s four-game winning streak.

Veinbergs (3-0) had a no-hitter entering the bottom of the ninth, when he walked Nick Ward to start the inning. Jared Mang followed by pulling the first pitch he saw, lining it into the left-field corner for a double that advanced Ward to third base, spoiling the bid for a no-hitter, which would have been the first by a Gateway pitcher since 2013.

Veinbergs exited at that point to a nice round of applause from the 1,262 fans at Wild Things Park. He walked five and struck out six. He threw 125 pitches.

Sam Gardner replaced Veinbergs and completed the shutout, striking out three of the four batters he faced for his second save.

Veinbergs retired the first nine Washington hitters before walking Ward to start the fourth. One out later, Veinbergs picked Ward off of first base before a 3-2 pitch to Scotty Dubrule, who also walked.

The Wild Things had only two other baserunners, two-out walks by Ward in the sixth and Andrew Czech in the seventh.

The closest thing the Wild Things had to a hit until the ninth happened in the fifth inning. With one out, Washington third baseman Ian Walters hit a long fly ball that Gateway left fielder Zach Racusin backed up on and caught at the wall.

Veinbergs, whose previous longest outing was 4 2/3 innings, threw 113 pitches through seven innings

Gateway scored all the runs it would need during a two-pitch stretch in the second inning against Washington starter Hayden Pearce (4-5). Ian Biblioni laced a two-run triple up the gap in right centerfield and scored one pitch later on a sacrifice fly by Abdiel Diaz.

Those were the only runs allowed by Pearce, who went six innings. He gave up five hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

Gateway pushed the lead to 4-0 in the seventh, scoring one run against Washington reliever Jake Pilarski. Diaz reached base on a walk and eventually scored on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Isaac Bernard.

Pilarski had an odd outing as he pitched two innings and allowed only one run but issued five walks.

Extra bases

It was Gateway’s first game at Wild Things Park since May 26, 2019. … Washington has been no-hit only one time in its 20-season history. … There were only seven hits in the game, two by gateway catcher Alex Hernandez. … Gateway pitchers have thrown 20 consecutive scoreless innings.