A Minor League no-hitter that features a lot of walks and ... chicken tenders?
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There are many ways to describe a no-hitter. Exhilarating. Historic. But … delicious?
That is where the New Hampshire Fisher Cats -- playing as the Chicken Tenders -- come into play.
For Tuesday home games, the Blue Jays’ Double-A affiliate transforms into the Manchester Chicken Tenders, one of the Minors’ many incredible alternate identities. You could say that transformation packed a little extra protein into the outings for prospects Jackson Wentworth (4 2/3 innings, four strikeouts), Nate Garkow (1 1/3 innings, one strikeout), Irv Carter (two innings, four strikeouts) and Kai Peterson (one inning), who combined to blank Binghamton in the hits column en route to a 6-0 victory at Delta Dental Stadium.
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Making things even saucier is that it’s not the first time the Chicken Tenders have tossed a no-hitter into their basket. Last June 7, right-hander Rafael Sanchez spun a seven-inning no-no while the club played as an elevated version of the alternate identity -- the Buffalo Tenders. Of course, you can add Chicken Tenders merch to your collection as well.
But the history-making night wasn’t exactly a tidy performance by the Fisher Cats hurlers. The quartet combined to walk 10 batters total, the most in a full-season affiliate no-hitter since Aug. 2, 2012, when Double-A Huntsville walked 11 during its no-no against Chattanooga. Walking 10 batters and finishing off a no-hitter has happened only once in MLB history -- when the Reds’ Jim Maloney capped the feat in a 10-inning, 187-pitch effort vs. the Cubs on Aug. 19, 1965.
We can't answer the age-old question of what came first: the chicken or the egg? But we do know the Chicken Tenders threw a no-hitter first. And now second.