Tampa tosses another no-hitter

Jose Veras and Daniel McCutchen combined on Tampa's second no-hitter in four days Sunday as the Yankees blanked the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 4-0, in the opener of their doubleheader.

After Veras struck out four in two perfect innings in his debut for Tampa (21-9), McCutchen (11-2) fanned two and walked five. He benefited from three double plays and tied Clearwater's Andrew Carpenter for the Florida State League lead in wins.

"It was a lot of fun to be a part of that," McCutchen said. "I didn't have my best command, but my breaking stuff was working. I walked a lot of guys, which was uncharacteristic. I think that was a career high."

McCutchen has had his way with the Flying Tigers this season, having pitched 11 scoreless innings over two outings. The 24-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.50, which ranks fourth in the league.

"I try to stick to the same pitching style," he said. "I like throwing a lot of strikes and letting my defense work behind me. I've gotten a lot of breaks. My offense has scored runs, things have gone my way, but I just try to control what I can."

On Wednesday, Kevin Whelan worked five innings and combined with David Robertson and Joshua Schmidt on a no-hitter in the Yankees' 3-0 victory over Jupiter. It's believed to be the first time in FSL history that a team has pitched two no-hitters in the same week.

"I guess that's pretty unusual," McCutchen said. "We have been playing, for the most part, really well."

Marcos Vechionacci belted a two-run homer, his first of the season, in the second. Tim Battle followed with a triple and scored on Kevin Russo's single to stake the Yankees to a 3-0 lead. Battle and Kevin Russo had two hits apiece.

Lakeland starter Angel Castro (3-1) surrendered four runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking two in six frames.