Tigers’ Kim, Peralta twirl almost perfect no-no

Toronto rookie lefty Kwang Hyun Kim and reliever Freddy Peralta combined on a no-hitter after coming within one out of recording the second perfect game in PGBL history.
Making just his third career start, Kim racked up 113 pitches in retiring all 24 batters he faced through eight innings. Instead of letting Kim finish, Tigers manager Ken Griffey Jr. then turned to Peralta with an 8-0 lead.
After retiring Renato Nunez on a fly to right and Robbie Grossman on a grounder to first, Peralta walked the Roughnecks’ Joey Gallo on five pitches to spoil the perfecto. But Peralta rebounded to strike out pinch hitter Tyler Naquin and complete the franchise’s first no-hitter.
It marks the league’s 20th no-no on record, coming a little over one year Oakland’s Mike Clevinger held Las Vegas hitless. It also is just the second combined effort, following Louisville’s Mike Montgomery and Ryan Tepera in 2018.
Oddly, the Tigers franchise was on the opposite end of the only perfect game during their 2004 inaugural season as the B.C. Bucs, and the opponent was Toronto. BlueBirds southpaw Brian Anderson finished a 92-pitch gem with 4 strikeouts in a 5-0 victory, with Timo Perez making the final out.
Kim improved to 2-0 with the win, striking out nine Calgary batters and lowering his ERA to 0.86. Jesse Winker homered and Clint Frazier had three hits for the Maple Leaf Division-leading Tigers.