Yankees’ Taillon perfect through 7 innings vs Angels
NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees right-hander Jameson Taillon has pitched seven perfect innings against the Los Angeles Angels.
Taillon has five strikeouts on 83 pitches Thursday night in the second game of a split doubleheader. His season-high pitch count is 94.
Shohei Ohtani sent a fly ball to the center-field warning track in the first inning that left the bat at 103.8 mph. Taillon otherwise hasn’t been hit hard, mixing and matching six different pitches.
He retired Ohtani in the seventh thanks to a stellar backhand stop and jump-and-throw by shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Ohtani pleaded with Angels manager Joe Maddon to challenge, but replays showed the throw to first just beat the speedy two-way star.
Mike Trout then flied out to left, leaving Taillon six outs from history with the meat of the Angels’ order out of the way.
New York and Los Angeles were scoreless through 6 1/2 innings. The Yankees won the opener 6-1 behind a gem from Nestor Cortes, handing the Angels their seventh straight loss.
Heavy rain was forecast for Thursday night, and it seemed certain for most of the day that the second game would get postponed. The twinbill opener was delayed for 1 hour, 28 minutes, in the ninth inning by severe showers, but skies cleared around 5:30 p.m. and have stayed that way.
The 30-year-old Taillon returned this spring from offseason right 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 that, he 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.
Detmers skated around trouble to get through 4 1/3 scoreless innings Thursday.
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