Tanaka, Yankees team up to no-hit Tigers; Hutchison shaky for Bucs
No runs once again off Masahiro Tanaka. No hits off him or the New York Yankees’ bullpen, either.
Tanaka and two relievers combined on a spring training no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers in a 3-0 win Friday in Lakeland, Florida.
New York manager Joe Girardi didn’t keep the lineup card as a souvenir, but still appreciated the effort.
“I’m happy for our guys,” Girardi said. “It’s fun. Obviously, it means more if it’s the regular season, but still it’s a no-hitter.”
Tanaka, scheduled to start on opening day, struck out six and walked two in 4 1-3 innings. The Japanese ace has thrown 13 1/3 scoreless innings in exhibition play.
“I felt that I wasn’t at my best, but considering that I still was able to put up some zeroes, so that part satisfied me,” Tanaka said through a translator. “The slider and the cut fastball, the location of it, I felt like I was all over the place. The command of those can be better.”
After Chasen Shreve got the final two outs in the fifth, Jordan Montgomery finished up with four perfect innings. Montgomery has emerged as candidate for a bullpen spot and could get into the mix for open fifth starter spot.
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said “there was pride involved” in trying to avoid being no-hit, even in an exhibition game.
“You don’t want to get no-hit, whether it’s spring training or regular season, Wiffle ball in the backyard,” Ausmus said. “It was on the radar.”
J.D. Martinez, Nick Castellanos and Justin Upton were among the Detroit regulars who started. Ausmus noted that players who worked out early and left the ballpark before the game ended “might not even know at this point” what had taken place.
Orioles 8, Pirates 6
Gabriel Ynoa went 2 2/3 innings in the start for Baltimore, allowing two earned runs and five hits. Trey Mancini hit his second home run of the spring and Alex Castellanos tripled.
Drew Hutchison worked 3 1/3 innings for Pittsburgh, giving up six runs and seven hits.
