updated 2:04 a.m. ET July 11, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - Rookie Eli Whiteside wasn’t even supposed to be catching Friday night. Instead, he played a huge part in Jonathan Sanchez’s no-hitter for the San Francisco Giants.

The 29-year-old backup backstop got the call about 30 minutes before batting practice because starter Bengie Molina’s wife, Jamie, went into labor with the couple’s first child.

What a night for Whiteside in just his 13th career start.

“That’s an unbelievable feeling,” Whiteside said. “I caught two in the minor leagues, but nothing like that.”

Whiteside, who spent part of the 2005 season with the Baltimore Orioles in his only other major league season, had appeared in nine of the team’s previous 21 games. This one certainly will be among the most memorable for the rest of his life.

Sanchez tossed the majors’ first no-hitter this season in an 8-0 victory over the San Diego Padres, the left-hander’s return to the rotation following a nearly three-week demotion to the bullpen.

“We talked about the hitters at the beginning of the game in the clubhouse,” Sanchez said. “He came to me and we talked. I told him, ’I’m going to follow you the whole game. If I say no, if I shake you off, just go back to the same pitch.’ “

It only happened once or twice, Sanchez said.

“I knew he had good stuff in the bullpen,” Whiteside said. “That’s what I told him, ’Take that stuff into the game.’ After a few innings, he had unbelievable stuff. That’s what he’s capable of. We sat over in the corner (before the game) and he had a game plan — and he stuck to it.”

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