NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees right-hander Jameson Taillon has pitched six perfect innings against the Los Angeles Angels.
Taillon has five strikeouts on 71 pitches Thursday. His season-high pitch count is 94.
Shohei Ohtani ripped a 103.8 mph fly ball to the warning track in center during the first inning. Taillon otherwise hasn't been hit hard, mixing and matching around Ohtani, Mike Trout and the rest of the lineup while using six different pitches.
New York and Los Angeles were scoreless through 5 1/2 innings in the nightcap of a doubleheader. The Yankees won the opener 6-1 behind a gem from Nestor Cortes.
The 30-year-old Taillon returned this spring from offseason ankle surgery in the best form of his career. He entered Thursday 5-1 with a 2.49 ERA and pinpoint control — he had walked five in 50 2/3 innings.
Selected second overall by Pittsburgh between Bryce Harper and Manny Machado in the 2010 draft, Taillon has been hampered by injuries throughout his career. He's had Tommy John surgery twice, missed time with a sports hernia and had an operation for testicular cancer in 2017 that sidelined him for five weeks.
Despite all of that, the right-hander entered Thursday 42-31 with a 3.72 ERA in 120 big league starts.
Taillon's opponent on the mound, Reid Detmers, has thrown one of two no-hitters in the majors this season. Detmers no-hit Tampa Bay on May 10. The other was a combined effort by five New York Mets pitchers April 29 against Philadelphia.
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