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07/12/2008 1:40 AM ET
'Phenomenal' Loree perfect again
Former 50th-round pick has retired 62 of last 63 batters
By Alan Friedman / Special to MLB.com
Mike Loree has a .085 opponents' batting average in five Northwest League starts. (Salem-Keizer Volcanoes)

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Mike Loree must be wondering what a guy needs to do to get a win.

The 21-year-old right-hander struck out seven over seven perfect innings for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes on Friday, but the Yakima Bears rallied with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth for a 2-1 victory.

Over 21 innings in his last four starts, Loree has retired a remarkable 62 of the 63 hitters he's faced. He has just one win to show for a stretch during which he has been close to unhittable.

"It's the most phenomenal pitching I've ever seen in my life," said Salem-Keizer manager Tom Trebelhorn, who has spent four decades in baseball as a player, coach and manager. "I don't know if anybody's ever pitched this good. I don't care if you're talking about the Northwest League, the Gulf Coast League or the Major Leagues.

"He has good command of his fastball, he pitches ahead in the count. If someone exposes a weakness, he exploits it. I don't know that anybody's ever pitched this good."

Loree's streak began June 25 when he retired the final two batters he faced against Tri-City, a 6-5 loss in which he got no decision. On June 30, he hurled six perfect frames to beat Eugene, 1-0. Five nights later, he retired the first 20 batters but surrendered a solo homer to Leonardo Reyes in a 4-1 loss to the Emeralds.

Selected by the Giants in the 50th and final round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, the Villanova product and New Jersey native retired the final Eugene hitter in that contest before carving up the Bears on Friday.

"He's been unhittable," Trebelhorn said. "Looking at his stuff, you wouldn't think he could pitch like that, but he's just been throwing strikes.

"I saw Luis Tiant throw two no-hitters in the Pacific Coast League and I saw Sam McDowell do the same. But I've never seen anything like this."

On Friday, the Volcanoes (13-11) took a 1-0 lead into the ninth behind Loree, reliever Shane Kaufman and Michael Ambort, who hit an RBI single in the seventh.

But with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Volcanoes on the verge of a perfect game, the Bears scored twice off Kaufman (0-1) to win it.

Greg Bordes walked on a 3-2 pitch and raced home with the tying run when David Cooper lined a 2-2 offering down the right-field line for a triple. Ariel Urena dropped a perfect bunt single toward third, scoring Cooper to end the game.

"In the span of four minutes, we went from a euphoric situation to a high degree of despondency," Trebelhorn said. "But the guy [Urena] put down a perfect base hit bunt. He made a very good play."

Bryan Woodall (1-2) picked up the win for Yakima (10-14), despite allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts over three innings.

Alan Friedman is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.