Rusin tosses no-hitter for Triple-A Iowa

CHICAGO -- Left-hander Chris Rusin said he had never gone past the sixth inning of a game without giving up a hit. On Wednesday, he went all the way.

Rusin threw a no-hitter and helped himself by hitting a two-run single to lead Triple-A Iowa to a 3-0 victory over New Orleans.

Rusin struck out three and walked two for the win, throwing 118 pitches, 72 for strikes. It's the first no-no by an Iowa Cubs pitcher since Reggie Patterson did so in 1984.

"I was just trying to keep the ball down like I did all game," Rusin said. "I was going to keep pounding until they made an adjustment. I just kept doing what I wanted to do."

He received a congratulatory Gatorade shower from his teammates. Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio said he called the lefty as well.

Three New Orleans players reached against Rusin, including Josh Rodriguez, who drew a one-out walk in the first and a leadoff walk in the seventh. Rusin was at 104 pitches through eight innings.

"I didn't know how many pitches I had," Rusin said. "I was going to keep pitching until the Cubs pulled me out."

Rodriguez made the last out of the game, htiting a pop fly to shallow center that Matt Szczur snared.

A fourth-round pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, Rusin, 27, made seven starts with the big league team in 2012, and another 13 starts last season. This year, he was called up as insurance for the bullpen, and pitched five innings in relief against the Cardinals on April 12. In that game, he gave up one run on three hits.