The Orioles picks Skenes college teammates to complete a no-hitter game Cooper: You can brag to him

Today (23rd) the spring training game between the Orioles and the Pirates, the away Orioles only brought 6 major league pitchers, but in the first 8 innings of the opponent without hits, the Orioles coach Brandon Hyde decided to transfer Riley Cooper to the minor leagues, and he lived up to expectations to help the team complete the feat of no hitters.

The biggest focus of this game was Paul Skenes' last starting point in spring training, and Skenes showed strong pressing power as expected, only hitting 1 hit in the first 3.1 innings and completing the task with 4 strikeouts without conceding points.

However, Zach Eflin, who was not in good form during spring training, had a rebound performance of no hits in the first three innings and 4K hits, and the next five pitchers also continued to be in good form, each throwing one inning each without allowing the pirate hitter to knock out a hit.

After talking to pitcher coach Drew French, Hyde decided to transfer left-handed Cooper from the Minor League Spring Training base, and he went down to the board in the ninth inning to face three hitters, including two strikeouts.

Hyde responded, "Because both he and Skenes are from Louisiana State University."

According to Sarah Langs, a major league history and data expert, this is the second spring training game without a hitter in the history of the Orioles, the previous one was on April 12, 1951, and the first time after the team history was changed from 1954 to the current one after the Orioles.

It is worth mentioning that Cooper, who participated in the 2023 draft with Skenes, was only selected by the Orioles in the 13th round, and he played in the 1A team last year, and he started from 2A at most this year, but Skenes is not only the top pick and has made a name for himself in the major leagues, but also serves as the starting pitcher for the Pirates at the beginning of this season.

So Cooper can brag to Skenes about it, even if Skenes has left the pitch before the end of the game. "Of course he'll know, and I'll send him a message after the game." Cooper laughed.

In fact, Cooper didn't know that he was still a no-hitter in the first eight innings when he walked up the pitcher's mound, but only knew that he had a "heavy responsibility" after hearing the crowd on the sidelines shout "continue the no-hitter game". Cooper, who scored 11 of 16 goals in the first inning, said, "I was like, 'Okay, let's get this done,' and I just kept pitching and doing my thing."

Although there was no celebration of a normal no-hitter game after the game, it was a good experience for the Orioles players who were in the middle of it.

'Everybody knows what's going on and being in a situation that's more than the game itself, so I think it's going to be a great experience for the players.' Hyde said.