David Purcey took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Sunday in his first start since being demoted from the Toronto Blue Jays but finished with a no-decision in a 4-2 loss for the Las Vegas 51s.
Purcey, left, a 2004 first-round pick optioned to Las Vegas on Friday after a disappointing five-start stint in the Toronto rotation, had a 2-0 lead over the Salt Lake Bees going into the seventh at Cashman Field. He walked Reggie Willits and Freddy Sandoval to lead off the inning and then gave up a single to designated hitter Chris Pettit to end the no-hitter and shutout.
“I was mixing up my pitches better than I have and just need … to practice my consistency in getting my pitches over (the plate),” Purcey said.
Exactly half of Purcey’s pitches were out of the strike zone (52 balls in 104 pitches) and he walked five batters while striking out six.
“I still feel I wasn’t in the zone as much as I wanted to be with all my pitches, five walks is not what we’re going for,” he said.
Catcher Kyle Phillips said Purcey was “effectively wild” and “pounded the zone when he needed to, got a couple of double-play groundballs when he needed to.”
Purcey did have three double plays turned behind him to help him out of jams in his six no-hit innings, but he couldn’t manage to induce one in the seventh.
On the RBI single by Pettit, third baseman Scott Campbell made an astounding play for the first out of the inning, cutting off the throw between third base and home and racing to the bag for a diving tag of Sandoval. Purcey then left after 6 1/3 innings.
T.J. Beam relieved and allowed Pettit to score – a run that was charged to Purcey – to tie the game at 2, and he proceeded to give up two runs of his own making. Beam (1-2) took the loss, evening the bullpen’s overall record at 5-5 and keeping alive the starting rotation’s streak without a victory. Only one 51s starting pitcher has won a game this season, an April 15 victory in Salt Lake by Wade Miller, giving them a 1-12 overall record.
“Our starters need to go a little deeper in games, their pitch counts are getting up early in the games, and we need to score some more runs,” 51s manager Mike Basso said.
Bees starter Dan Denham walked five hitters and gave up six hits, but managed to keep the score close, allowing only two runs on a double by Angel Sanchez in the fourth.

NOTES: With the loss, the Bees took the series three games to one, winning the last three games in a row after the 51s took the opener in extra innings. … Phillips, the backup catcher, went 4-for-4 with all singles, giving him five straight plate appearances with a hit, a team-high for this season. Phillips got the start to give J.P. Arencibia a breather in the day game following a night game.