A tip of the cap for Chattanooga starting pitcher Tejay Antone was well-deserved in Monday night's 3-1 victory over Mobile at AT&T Field.
For the second time in less than a month the 25-year-old Antone allowed not a single hit through the first six innings.
The Cincinnati Reds' 2015 fifth-round draft pick has delivered all season for the only professional ball club he has been a part of, and he threw eight innings of one-hit shutout baseball Monday.
Bo Way's one-out single to center field in the top of the seventh broke up the no-hit bid for the 6-foot-4 right-hander, who was spot on with his sinker and slider.
"The game plan was to throw a lot of sinkers, and it really worked," Antone said. "The defense was right where they were hitting it and turned some great double plays. (Manager) Pat Kelly was shifting them perfect."
The Lookouts' ace of 2019 so far improved to 7-3 with a 2.83 earned run average and a 1.05 WHIP, and Mitch Nay batted in all three runs for Chattanooga (31-25). He gave Antone room to work with early with a two-out single to left that scored Alfredo Rodriguez and TJ Friedl in the first inning.
Friedl and Rodriguez each had two hits and a stolen base, and Taylor Trammell got his 13th steal of the season.
Nay drove in Trammell in the eighth with an opposite-field single to right.
Despite striking out 14 times, the Lookouts did not need a huge offensive showing.
Matt Ball picked up the loss for the BayBears (21-35) despite not allowing an earned run in 4 1/3 innings, with eight strikeouts.
The Anaheim Angels' top prospect - Jo Adell, who is ranked the No. 14 prospect in all of baseball - made his Double-A debut and was hitless in four at-bats.
Antone fired six no-hit innings against the Tennessee Smokies on May 9.
Battling back to overcome Tommy John surgery, which took him out of the entire 2017 season after he was 14-7 with a 3.45 ERA the year before with Dayton and Daytona, he is grateful to be back in full form.
"You can't block that surgery out," Antone said. "It's a part of me. I wondered if I would ever make it back but stuck with my rehab. I kept grinding and kept the Lord first. He has pulled me through, and that's all I can ask for."
Chattanooga and Mobile will play game three of a five-game series tonight at 7:15.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.