Verlander near perfect, K's 13

It was all about pitching Friday night, with four of the eight games ending in shutouts -- another two games had teams held to just a run -- but none better than Justin Verlander, who put up the most dominant start of the season so far in a near perfect game.

The Hillsborough ace tossed a one-hitter, defeating the Floating Fish, 2-0. He walked none and struck out 13, including the side in the 1st and six of the first seven batters. Just four outs were recorded via fly ball.

An error by first baseman Billy Butler to start the fifth and a single by A.J. Pierzynski leading off the sixth were the only blemishes that kept Verlander from achieving a perfect game. After Pierzynki's hit, Verlander proceeded to strike out six of the next eight batters, including the side in the sixth inning.

Verlander improved to 4-1 and lowered his ERA to a league-leading 1.23. The 13 Ks also gave him the league lead with 53, two better than Bridgewater rookie Brandon Beachy.

There were two no-hitters in the DMBL last year, most recently in June when Brett Myers, then with Las Vegas, beat New Jersey, 1-0, and in May Carolina phenom Stephen Strasburg shut down Philly, 5-0.