Cooney falls one out shy of Triple-A no-hitter

Nothing but zeros lit up the scoreboard with two outs in the ninth inning Thursday night for Triple-A Iowa. The Cubs had no runs and no hits. Memphis left-hander Tim Cooney had held them to just one baserunner, courtesy of a one-out walk in the fifth.

But -- one out away from making history -- Cooney issued another walk, bringing second baseman Arismendy Alcantara to the plate. The Cubs' No. 6 prospect made him pay, jumping on the first pitch to pull a ground ball through the left side of the infield for a hit.

Though the no-hit bid was over, Cooney quickly recovered. He struck out Cubs No. 1 prospect Javier Baez, completing a one-hit shutout and securing a 4-0 victory for Memphis.

Cooney, the Cardinals' No. 9 prospect, struck out seven batters and walked two. He threw 101 pitches and went 1-for-3 at the plate.

With the victory, Cooney improved to 4-4 with a 3.82 ERA in 11 starts this season. He has struck out 50 batters and walked 24 in 66 innings.

Memphis quickly gave Cooney the lead Thursday. Center fielder Randal Grichuck, the Cardinals' No. 11 prospect, hit a solo home run in the first inning, his 10th of the season. The Redbirds tacked on another run in the fourth and two more in the sixth.

It was more support than Cooney would need as he came one out away from becoming the first Redbird to throw a no-hitter. Instead, he settled for the eighth one-hitter in franchise history.