Ohtani, 2 relievers combine on no-hitter

Shohei Ohtani struck out 13 and homered before leaving with an injury and two relievers finished off a combined no-hitter for Poovey Farms in a 4-0 win on Thursday night at home over Empire City.

It's the league's first no-hitter since Hillsborough's Blake Snell did it for the second time last May and the first combined no-hitter in the DMBL since a combined effort by Erie nearly a year ago. It's also probably the earliest ever in a season, occurring in just Poovey's 6th game of the season.

It's the 31st no-hitter in league history and the 9th combined no-no in the DMBL. For Poovey Farms, it's the second no-hitter in team history.

Ohtani struck out 13 and walked just 1 over 7 1/3 innings. Of his 105 pitches, 64 went for strikes (.609). After a mound visit, Ohtani left the game with an injury, saying through his interpreter that he "felt funny, but not ha-ha funny." He's expected to miss his next start.

Gabe Speier relieved Ohtani in the 8th and struck out both batters he faced before Nate Pearson finished off the final inning of the no-hitter.

The Japanese import put the Dairy Cows on the board as a DH with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 4th. He started a rally in the 6th with a one-out single which was followed by a walk to Freddie Freeman before Riley Greene cleared the bases with a 3-run blast to break the game open.

Ohtani struck out Gunnar Henderson to start the game and went on to strike out 6 of the first 7 batters. The only thing keeping it from a perfect game was a two-out walk issued to J.D. Martinez in the 4th inning. Cleanup hitter Christian Walker was his top victim, striking out 3 times. He also went 4 scoreless innings in the season opener against Merrill Creek before a 63-minute rain delay ended his day.