Relievers throwing goose eggs

It took nearly a third of the season but Greg Holland of the Durham Bulls finally gave up an earned run. Holland was the last reliever in the DMBL this season to be unscored upon, until Friday night's 10-1 thrashing at the hands of the Sardine City Straphangers.

The former second-round pick in 2012 went one out into his 19th appearance before surrendering a run. He walked Craig Gentry to lead off the 8th, uncorked a wild pitch before getting Eric Hosmer out, but then yielded a run-scoring single to Ryan Braun. Holland would give up another run in the 9th before giving way to Francisco Rodriguez, who also hasn't been scored upon -- but he's only made two appearances.

In all, Holland went 21 2/3 scoreless innings, yielding just 6 hits to go with an impressive 34:4 K/BB ratio. He collected 14 saves and was 1-0 during the stretch (his lone win coming May 29 in a three-inning hitless effort in his previous outing, in which he struck out six).

The previous scoreless reliever was Brick City's Ed Mujica, who had gone 11 appearances before yielding a run. The right-hander got as far as 17 scoreless innings, including 14 strikeouts without a walk and just 8 hits, before giving up an eighth-inning jack to Nelson Cruz in a May 21 game. He would later give up two more runs, including a solo shot by Prince Fielder in the 10th, going a season-high four innings.

There also was Livingston's lefty, Alex Torres, who reached 18 2/3 scoreless innings, his streak broken in a May 19 game by a Jason Heyward home run in his 11th appearance.

Hillsborough's Jose Veras was the only other reliever besides Holland to touch 20 innings, reaching 20 2/3 scoreless before a run-scoring single a few Fridays ago. He also boasted 21 strikeouts against 5 walks while collecting 5 saves. He blew the save and took a loss in his 16th appearance, a May 13 game at Marietta.

Another Sunday, another no-hitter

Brick City's Scott Feldman shut down the Allentown Mules, 4-0 on the road in Sunday's game one, tossing the second no-hitter in the DMBL this season and the second in as many Sundays. Last week, Bridgewater's Homer Bailey no-hit Sardine City.

It's the first no-hitter for Brick City since moving from Newark, and the 13th in league history. As the Sugar Bears, Newark saw a no-hitter by Randy Johnson against Kentucky in 2001.

The 31-year-old Feldman struck out five and walked none but hit three batters -- losing his chance at the DMBL's first-ever perfect game. Leading off the 3rd inning, Feldman hit Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who was erased when Mark Trumbo hit into a 5-4-3 double play in the next at-bat. With one out in the 7th, Feldman nailed Mike Trout and leading off the 9th hit pinch-hitter Neil Walker, who like Salty was eliminated on a GDP, this time 6-4-3 by Jimmy Rollins.

The 6-foot, 7-inch Hawaii native improved to 3-0 in tossing his first shutout of the year, lowering his ERA to 2.74 on the season. He was backed by home runs from Avisail Garcia and Gordon Beckham. John Lackey also went the distance for the Mules but allowed 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 7 to take the loss.

Allentown may be hitting a league-low .223 through Sunday's doubleheaders but the Mules still feature a lineup that includes Trout, Adrian Gonzalez and Giancarlo Stanton.

The surprise pitching gem stole the headlines from Sunday's other big story, on the batting side: home runs by Pedro Alvarez in three straight at-bats in Durham's 7-4 victory at Empire City.