Naturals' Rosa almost unhittable

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Naturals' Rosa almost unhittable
04/26/2008 1:33 AM ET
By Steve Conley

It was a night of firsts for Carlos Rosa and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. There was just one first that got away.
Rosa took a no-hitter into the seventh and struck out a career-high nine batters over eight innings Friday as the Naturals posted their first-ever win over the Arkansas Travelers, 3-0, at Arvest Ballpark.
After issuing a one-out walk in the second, Rosa struck out the side in the third and retired 13 straight Travelers before taking the mound in the seventh. He was only nine outs away from throwing the first no-hitter in Northwest Arkansas' brief history, but Nate Sutton sent a grounder up the middle. Second baseman Marc Maddox made a diving stop, but his throw to first was not in time.
It was the only hit of the game for Arkansas (8-13), which won the first four meetings between the intrastate rivals.
Sosa responded by striking out Hainley Statia before getting Michael Collins to hit into an inning-ending double play. He fell three outs shy of his second career complete game, a shutout of Wisconsin for Class A Burlington on July 20, 2006.
"I think Carlos, tonight, could have won at any level with the stuff he had," Naturals manager Brian Poldberg told The Morning News (of Northwest Arkansas). "When he pitches like that, we're going to have a very good chance to win."
Jarod Plummer worked the ninth, allowed a single and struck out one for his first save.
Rosa, who missed the entire 2005 season following Tommy John surgery, combined to go 8-7 with a 3.60 ERA in 25 games, including 21 starts, between Class A Advanced Wilmington and Double-A Wichita last season. In five starts this year, the 23-year-old right-hander has struck out 25 and walked five to go with a 1.61 ERA that ranks fourth in the Texas League.
"I feel very, very more comfortable this year at this level because I pitched at Wichita last year," Rosa told the newspaper. "That was my first year to see hitters coming from [the] High-A level, and I just feel more comfortable now."
The Naturals (7-14) scored all of their runs in the third. Jose Duarte and Angel Sanchez drew two-out walks, Duarte stole third and trotted home on Dan Denham's balk. Geraldo Valentin followed with an RBI single before three more walks made it 3-0.
Denham (1-2) allowed three unearned runs on three hits and four walks while striking out four over six innings.
Sutton had both hits for Arkansas.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.