Venezuela’s Ángel Padrón throws first Caribbean Series no-no since 1952

5:25 AM UTC

The Caribbean Series began 75 years ago. On Wednesday night, something transpired that had only occurred once in the history of the tournament: a no-hitter. In a 9-0 rout of Nicaragua at loanDepot Park, Venezuela’s Ángel Padrón not only tossed a shutout, but he didn’t yield a single hit.

The last pitcher to finish off a no-hitter in the Caribbean Series was Tommy Fine for Cuba on Feb. 21, 1952 vs. Venezuela.

The 26-year-old left-hander, who spent five seasons in the Red Sox farm system from 2015-19, struck out four and the only barrier standing between him and perfection on this night was the walk he issued in the eighth inning. He needed just 88 pitches, 57 of which were strikes.

Padrón had more than enough run support from Venezuela’s lineup. Ramón Flores opened the scoring with a two-run single in the fourth inning. An Alcides Escobar ground ball that resulted in a fourth-inning double play brought in Venezuela’s third run. In the seventh, Jose Tovar doubled in another to make it 4-0.

Venezuela rallied for five runs in the top of the ninth thanks to RBI doubles from Escobar and Leonardo Reginatto, as well as an RBI single by Francisco Arcia and a two-run single off the bat of Iván Herrera.

Venezuela’s manager, former MLB shortstop and manager Ozzie Guillen, managed two no-hitters in the Majors, and his pitching coach for Venezuela, Carlos Zambrano, threw a no-hitter for the Cubs against the Brewers on Sept. 14, 2008.

Here’s a recap of the other two Caribbean Series games on Wednesday:

Curaçao 2, Puerto Rico 0
In a pitching duel throughout, Curaçao managed to push across single runs in the fourth and ninth innings to even its record at 3-3 and advance to the tournament semifinals against Venezuela.

Juan Carlos Sulbaran started and tossed five strong innings for Curaçao, giving up two hits and striking out two. Relievers Wendell Floranus (one inning), Shea Spitzbarth (two) and Anthony Herrera (one) combined for four more scoreless frames to seal the win.

The game’s only runs came courtesy of a Juremi Profar sacrifice fly in the fourth, and a Didi Gregorius sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Panama 3, Dominican Republic 1
Jhonny Santos belted a solo homer in the second inning, Christian Bethancourt launched a solo shot of his own in the sixth and Johan Camargo provided some insurance with an RBI single in the eighth to lift Panama to 5-1 in the tournament. The loss dropped the DR to 3-3, and the two teams will face off again in the semifinal round Thursday.

Right-hander Ernesto Silva started for Panama and threw five solid frames, yielding a run on five hits while walking three. Left-hander Davis Romero took the ball from there, turning in four scoreless innings over which he gave up three hits, walked two and struck out four.

The Dominican’s only run was produced by Dawel Lugo, who delivered an RBI single in the third.

Caribbean Series semifinals, Thursday at loanDepot Park

Dominican Republic at Panama, 3 p.m. ET

Curaçao at Venezuela, 8 p.m. ET