Less than 24 hours after three hurlers for Rookie-level Great Falls tossed a combined no-hitter, it was right-hander Alec Hansen's turn to take a run at the feat.
Hansen, the White Sox No. 8 prospect, carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning on Sunday against Helena before allowing a one-out single. The knock snapped a streak of 14 hitless innings, as the right-hander fired five no-hit frames in his previous start and didn't allow a hit in the final 3 2/3 innings in his start on Aug. 10. It was the only hit he allowed in six scoreless frames, though Great Falls would drop the contest, 6-3.
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Making his 10th pro start and seventh for the Voyagers, Hansen set a career high as he struck out 13 of the 22 hitters he faced and issued three walks, with 59 of his 87 pitches going for strikes. The 21-year-old has recorded double-digit strikeouts in three of his past four starts, a stretch that has seen him pile up 38 strikeouts and allow only five hits over 23 scoreless innings.
Hansen was a candidate to go No. 1 overall in the 2016 Draft headed into his junior year at Oklahoma but instead lost his control and was limited to low-leverage relief for five weeks. But his pure stuff was much more impressive than his numbers suggested, and the White Sox took him in the second round and signed him for $1.2 million.
• Box score
After a brief tour of the Rookie-level Arizona League to begin his career, Hansen has been nothing short of dominant since being promoted to the Pioneer League. In seven starts for Great Falls, the 6-foot-7 righty owns a stellar 1.23 WHIP and 0.65 WHIP, with a league-best 59 strikeouts and 12 walks in 36 2/3 innings.
Altogether, Hansen has yielded 13 hits in 43 2/3 innings between both stops, during which opposing hitters are hitting him at a .094 clip.