Anthony Vasquez threw the first nine-inning shutout of his nine-year professional career Thursday.

And he never knew how close he came to losing it.

Mud Hens manager Mike Rojas said Vasquez was limited to 120 pitches against Indianapolis at Fifth Third Field on Thursday. And on his 119th pitch of the night he coaxed a game-ending groundout from Joey Terdoslavich to complete a 2-0 victory over the Indians.

IN PICTURES: Mud Hens 2, Indianapolis 0

“I figured I could pitch as long as I didn’t allow a guy to reach base in the ninth, based on pitch count and things like that,” Vasquez said. “I had a feeling I had to get all three outs.”

Vasquez retired the final seven Indians in order, thanks in part to fine plays such as a running catch by Tyler Collins in right that nearly took him into foul territory and a crash into the padded wall.

But the 30-year-old lefty was the star of the game, holding Indianapolis in check on five harmless singles to collect the second shutout of his career — the first was a seven-inning victory while with Triple-A Tacoma in 2012.

It also was the first nine-inning complete-game shutout for the Mud Hens since Thad Weber shut out Columbus on July 5 of last season.

“I’ve worked with [pitching coach Jeff] Pico on staying through pitches and keeping them down in the zone,” Vasquez said. “The pitches tend to have better movement and better effect if you stay through them.

“I thought my curve was doing what it wanted to do – but so was my change-up and cutter.”

The Texas native, who started in place of Drew VerHagen, tied his season high with seven strikeouts and had 14 swings and misses, including nine on a slow curve that was measured at 71-to-74 miles per hour. But the key to throwing a complete game was getting early contact; he had five innings in which he retired Indianapolis on 12 pitches or less.

“I felt I mixed it up pretty well,” Vasquez said. “There were times I threw a lot of cutters, but that wasn’t a swing-and-miss pitch — that was an early contact pitch to get outs.

“A lot of times I used the curve to get ahead of hitters, but it also was a two-strike swing-and-miss pitch as well.”

Indianapolis collected four of its five singles off Vasquez in the first three innings. But the lefty did not allow a runner past second base in those three frames.

“He had great poise, especially early in the game,” Rojas said. “Even where there was traffic on the bases, he had no trouble pitching out of it – and he just kept rolling.”

Vasquez got the final two outs in the third and retired the next 11 batters after that before surrendering a two-out single in the seventh.

“My defense played really well behind me, and that gave me a lot of confidence,” he said. “I was able to pound the strike zone and focus on not getting behind hitters.”

The Mud Hens managed just six hits against the Indians but scratched out runs in the first and fourth innings to claim the team’s fourth win in five games.

Toledo scored a run in the first when Jason Krizan lined a two-out double to deep left-center, and after a walk to Michael Almanzar, Efren Navarro singled Krizan home.

Navarro now is 6 for 10 when batting with a runner in scoring position and two outs this season.

Then in the fourth inning, Omar Infante singled, then scored from first base on a double into the left-field corner off the bat of Bryan Holaday.

Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com, 419-724-6481 or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.

First Published June 9, 2017, 4:20 a.m.