Ever seen a no-no like this? These are year's the weirdest Minor League moments so far

Crooked Numbers is a monthly column dedicated to Minor League Baseball on-field oddities and absurdities. Keeping track of the weirdness is a team effort, so get in touch if you've witnessed something out of the ordinary at a Minor League game (benjamin.hill@mlb.com).

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Snow hits, lots of runs
April baseball in Maine is not for the faint of heart. The Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A BOS) April 7 home opener against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (TOR) took place in 35-degree weather following snowfall earlier in the day. The Sea Dogs got on the board first, plating two runs without the benefit of a hit, but this just set the stage for the lunacy that occurred in the top of the second.

The Fisher Cats scored 10 runs in the top of the second, and the first eight of those runs scored before the team collected a hit!

New Hampshire's bizarre offensive outburst (if you can call it that) proceeded as follows:

BB
BB
WP
K
SF (1-2)
BB
BB
BB (2-2)
HBP (3-2)
WP (4-2)
BB
HBP (5-2)
WP (6-2)
BB
BB (7-2)
WP (8-2)
1B (10-2)
K

For those keeping score at home, that's eight walks, two hit batsmen, four wild pitches, one sacrifice fly and one single, with 14 men coming to the plate. The Fisher Cats won the game, 12-7, but got outhit by the Sea Dogs, 6-5. Hayden Mullins took the loss, allowing five runs over 1 2/3 innings. But, on the plus side, he didn't allow a hit!

Nothing's gonna stop us now
The above game was a sign of weirdness to come for both Portland and New Hampshire. To wit:

The Fisher Cats trounced the Chesapeake Baysox (BAL), 20-1, on April 15. They utilized a different approach in this one, as the team collected 10 hits as part of a 12-run sixth inning. This is the most hits the franchise has ever notched in a single inning.

On April 28 the Fisher Cats suited up as their Chicken Tenders alternate identity, and the result was a combined no-hitter authored by Jackson Wentworth, Nate Garkow, Irv Carter and Kai Peterson.

However! Those pitchers combined to walk 10 batters, the most issued during a Minor League no-hitter by a full-season team since the Huntsville Stars (RIP) walked 11 on Aug. 2, 2012. Oh, and for those wondering: This wasn't the first time the Fisher Cats' no-hit an opponent while wearing Chicken Tenders uniforms. Rafael Sanchez tossed a seven-inning gem on June 7 of last season, during which the team played as the Buffalo Tenders. The team has yet to record a no-hitter while playing as a third variation, the Coconut Tenders.

The Sea Dogs tossed a combined no-hitter of their own against the Hartford Yard Goats (COL) on April 26. Mullins, who took the loss in April 7's wild home opener, pitched the game's first five innings. He allowed two unearned runs on five walks, and the Sea Dogs had to rally late to eke out a 3-2 win. Mullins started two games in April in which he did not allow a hit, but in those starts he allowed seven runs over 6 2/3 innings.

If your appetite for anomalous no-hitters has somehow not yet been satiated, consider this: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Triple-A MIA) threw a no-no on April 19, and lost to the Gwinnett Stripers (ATL).

Safe at home
Two straight steals of home on consecutive pitches? The Double-A Springfield Cardinals did just that during a 12-9 loss to the Tulsa Drillers (LAD) on April 9. The accomplished feet of Dakota Harris and Trey Paige accomplished this feat, victimizing Loons southpaw (and 2021 first-round pick) Maddux Bruns.

More perfect than perfect
An immaculate inning is when a pitcher strikes out the side on nine pitches. On April 23, Yehizon Sanchez of the Cedar Rapids Kernels (High-A MIN) improved upon that concept, needing just eight pitches against the Peoria Chiefs (STL). Sanchez was able to achieve this because the first batter he faced, Ian Petrutz, struck out on an automatic pitch timer violation. Just think: It is possible to throw a zero-pitch immaculate inning, via nine straight pitch timer violations. Dare to dream.

A knucklehead's delight
The last time both starting pitchers threw a knuckleball in the same Major League game was Sept. 15, 2000, when Tim Wakefield went up against Steve Sparks. It happened at the Triple-A level on April 2 in Tacoma, with Gabe Mosser pitching for the hometown Rainiers (SEA) and Matt Waldron, on a rehab assignment, toeing the rubber for the El Paso Chihuahuas (SD).

Per MLB Pipeline's Jesse Borek: "Mosser, who signed a Minor League free-agent deal with the Mariners in January, was credited with just two knuckleballs (resulting in a groundout and a foul ball), but he said he threw it more frequently than was officially recorded during Thursday's outing. (Occupational hazard: the pitch can be picked up as a sweeper or changeup or splitter due to its odd movement shape and drop.)

"Waldron, who used the pitch for 74 percent of his offerings in the big leagues last year with the Padres, officially went to it just 26.2 percent of the time opposite Mosser and got four whiffs on 10 swings."

The strike zone's gotta be around here somewhere!
The St. Paul Saints' (MIN) pitching staff had a night to forget on March 31, as seven hurlers combined to issue 20 walks in a 19-3 loss to the Worcester Red Sox. This was the most walks allowed in the International League since at least 2005 (which is as far back as Minor League Baseball's online records go). The Saints' out-of-control performance exceeded anything that's ever happened on a Major League diamond, where the record for walks in one game is 18.

Three pairs of jacks
Charles Davalan has hit six home runs for the Great Lake Loons (High-A LAD) this season via a trifecta of two-homer games. His first two homers didn't just come in the same game, they came in the same inning. On April 5 vs. the Fort Wayne TinCaps (SD), Davalan led off the third inning with a homer and then capped the nine-run frame with a grand slam.

24 hour dinger delay
The box score will show that 2024 Nationals first-round pick Seaver King had the first two-homer game of his professional career on April 18, as the Double-A Harrisburg Senators shortstop went yard in the first and fourth innings against the Erie SeaWolves (DET). There was, of course, a catch. King's homers occurred in the same game, but on different days. Check the tweet: