Zeuch stays grounded in his no-no for Buffalo
Blue Jays prospect elated over how he maintained focus on a magical night for the Bisons
Three outs at a time was as far as T.J. Zeuch would let his mind wander.
The 24-year-old right-hander threw the first no-hitter for the Buffalo Bisons in more than 22 years on Monday night — a 3-0 win over the host Rochester Red Wings — matching the feat of four-time major-league all-star Bartolo Colon, who had a no-no with the Triple-A Bisons when they were affiliated with the Cleveland Indians.
If Zeuch knew he was following in Big Sexy’s footsteps on Monday, he didn’t let on.
“I’d come back into the dugout, I’d just tell myself, ‘OK, you’ve got to go for three more,’ ” he said Tuesday. “Keep doing that, we’re in a good spot.”
It was a methodical approach from the 2016 first-round draft pick. But there was some magic to the night as well. Beau Taylor, claimed off waivers from Oakland on Friday, was catching Zeuch for the first time and the pair clicked immediately. Zeuch shook him off just once or twice, though he also missed a sign with one out in the ninth, surprising Taylor with a fastball and hitting him on the wrist.
“He called for a backdoor curveball but when he moved his fingers over, because of the shadows, I could only see the one finger,” Zeuch said. “And to make things worse, I yanked the fastball.”
It was part of a nervy ninth. Jonathan Davis had to make a diving catch in centre field for the second out. Zeuch initially thought the ball, off the bat of Rochester’s Ian Miller, was going to end his no-hit bid.
“But then I turned around and ... I saw J.D.’s eyes kind of light up and he started sprinting in and I knew right then he was going to catch it,” Zeuch said.
Zeuch made the final play, throwing out Drew Maggi on a soft comebacker. He used 114 pitches overall, walking one, hitting a batter, striking out three and inducing 15 groundouts.
“It was a pretty fitting end, a ground-ball guy gets a ground ball back to himself to finish it off,” Zeuch said.
“I kind of went blank after I caught it. I think the only thought that I had was, ‘Don’t flip it over his head.’ ”
The no-hitter is part a recent turnaround for the six-footseven Zeuch, who suffered a lat strain in spring training that kept him out of the Bisons rotation until June 22.
He had allowed four earned runs in four of five starts before pitching six shutout innings last Wednesday. That effort and Monday’s no-hitter dropped his ERA by more than a run, from 4.92 to 3.84.