Byrne one-hits Eagles in 10-0 shutout

Ryan Byrne threw another gem in Saturday night's 10-0 win over the Lucerne Eagles.

He struck out 10 batters and gave up only one hit, a two-out double by Samy Paulino in the sixth inning.

Byrne started the game by retiring the first 13 batters he faced before surrendering a full-count walk to Tom Enz.

The Eagles had their only chance of scoring in the sixth inning after Paulino's double put two runners in scoring position. But Byrne retired Raphael Strub on a comebacker to the mound to preserve the shutout.

The Challengers collected 11 hits and profited from six errors by the Eagle defense. Robert Sedin knocked in three runs in his farewell game for the Challengers, and Thomas Burger and Tobias Siegrist added three hits apiece.

Eidrys Reyes snapped his 19-game hitting streak by going 0-for-4 but still reached twice on a fielder's choice and an error by Paulino, and also scored once.

The game got called in the bottom of the seventh inning due to the 10-run mercy rule. Paulino had three errors in that inning alone, and catcher Marco Limacher was charged with two errors on the same play as he failed to properly touch home plate on a bases-loaded grounder to third, and then threw the runner to first base in the back.

That made four of the five runs in that inning unearned, and pitcher Andrea Girasole picked up his fourth loss of the season, while Byrne now leads the league with seven wins.

Game notes
Siegrist now has 800 total bases in the NLA, second on the Challengers' all-time list. …Byrne broke Sedin's single-season record of 135 strikeouts set last season, and now stands at a league-high 144 in 83 innings pitched. The league record of 180 Ks was set by Severin Fries in 1999 in 140 IP. ...Sedin batted .393 with 131 hits, 64 RBIs and scored 103 runs and had a 15-11 record and a 2.51 ERA with 262 strikeouts in 218 2-3 innings pitched in his three season with the C's.