Richards and Martinez combine on Hillsborough's first-ever no-hitter

Garrett Richards tossed 8 2/3 no-hit innings before Carlos Martinez came on to finish off Marietta for the first no-hitter in Hillsborough history. The Hit Men dropped the Mighty Men 5-0 on Tuesday night in the league's second no-hitter this season. Vancouver's Johnny Cueto fired that franchise's first-ever no-hitter in May.

Richards finished with 10 strikeouts and four walks amid two rain delays of 14 minutes and 34 minutes, respectively. Richards retired the first two batters in the 9th before walking Oswaldo Arcia.

The Diamond Conference's All-Star starter then was lifted for Martinez, who promptly tossed a wild pitch and walked Carl Crawford before striking out Chris Coghlan to preserve the no-no.

Hillsborough scored three runs in the fourth with alternating singles and doubles and two runs in the seventh, all coming off Marietta starter Alfredo Simon, who was starting for the injured Adam Wainwright. The Hit Men managed only two extra-base hits.

Richards improved to 13-5 and lowered his ERA to 2.57, tied for 3rd in the league. He walked one in the 1st inning and retired 10 in a row between walks in the 3rd and 6th innings, and walking his final batter.

It's the 16th no-hitter in DMBL history. Nine of those have come since the 2011 season, including a record three in 2014. The first seven no-hitters in league history were tossed between 1998 and 2008. It's also the fifth combined no-no, the first since Ubaldo Jimenez and Jason Motte teamed up for Sardine City in 2012.

July Players of the Month

San Francisco was the league's hottest team of July, going 21-7 and expanding their lead in the Drabek Division to 17 1/2 games. Meanwhile, the Golden Falcons posted a 19-9 record in July and getting a little breathing room atop the Fisk Division. Vancouver (17-11) has come on strong and moved up not only in the Fisk Division, but also in the wild card standings. El Paso (18-14) has come out of nowhere to even up their record before falling down under .500 just before the month ended. Sardine City (8-20) posted the league's worst record by far and has just surpassed Philadelphia as the worst team in the league.

July's JR Cigar Smokin' Batter of the Month is Jhonny Peralta of Arkansas. Now in his second year with the Falcons, the well-traveled Peralta has helped the Falcons return to glory, leading the Kruk Division by 4 games as of the end of the month. Peralta has been decent for the Falcons this year, but really cranked it up in July. Peralta hit .339 with a 1.043 OPS, smacking 13 doubles and 7 homers, with 33 RBIs and a .643 slugging. Overall, Peralta is htiting .255/.332/.442 with 17 homers and 71 RBIs. Other considerations: El Paso's Dexter Fowler (.359/.439/.521, 2 3Bs, 26 runs), Empire City's Adam Jones (.916 OPS, 10 2Bs, 8 HRs, 24 RBIs), Poovey Farms Freddie Freeman (.342/.440/.535, 11 2Bs) and Kyle Seager (.915 OPS, 9 HR, 23 R, 3 SB), Allentown's Matt Kemp (.923 OPS, 7 HR), Vancouver's J.D. Martinez (6 HR, 20 R, 24 RBIs), and Tucson's Jose Altuve (.309, 12 SBs).

July's Omaha Steaks Pitcher of the Month is Clayton Kershaw of Hoboken. Kershaw had gotten off to a mediocre start for the Cutters, but has turned on the heat in July. Kershaw won 5 of his 6 starts with a 1.80 ERA and 0.84 WHIP. Kershaw struck out 63 in 50 innings while walking only 3. On the season, Kershaw is 12-9 with a 3.23 ERA. Other notables: El Paso's Jason Hammel (3-0, 1.84, 0.72 WHIP), Marietta's Pat Neshek (2-0, 0.52, 7 SV, 0.81 WHIP), Tucson's Ken Giles (2-1, 1.56, 8 SV, 0.69 WHIP), Poovey Farms' Danny Duffy (1.13, 0.88 WHIP) and Yu Darvish (6-0, 51 K), and Arkansas' Zach Britton (3-0, 1.17, 4 SV).

Many teams endured some minor injuries during the month and San Francisco even got Anibal Sanchez back after being out for over a month. Livingston took the longest duration injury when backup catcher Ryan Hanigan took an ill-advised swim in the Amazon river and was swarmed by piranhas. Surgeons have just finished reconstructing his left arm and are now ready to move on to his right. Philadelphia's Dustin Pedroia reported feeling blase to the team doctors. While no real injury was found, doctors advised Pedroia to take a few weeks off and try to "find himself." Poovey Farms and Livingston's matchup on the penultimate day of the month knocked out both starters Yu Darvish and Chris Archer for a bit. After watching the Princess Bride, both were convinced they could survive the fire swamps. Both sustained injuries, but luckily avoided any R.O.U.S.'s.