Yanks' Boyle deals no-hit ball -- again

Just over a month ago, Sean Boyle was part of the first-ever combined no-hitter in Hudson Valley Renegades history. On Thursday night, he accomplished the feat himself two levels higher.

Yankees prospect Boyle tossed the second no-hitter of the season for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, striking out six and walking one while giving his team a split of a doubleheader at Worcester via a 5-0 win in the seven-inning nightcap.

¡°It¡¯s leaving me a little bit more at a loss for words, processing it after it happened,¡± Boyle said after his historic night, which came after Worcester's 5-3 win in the opener. ¡°In the moment, I looked at the scoreboard pretty early and in the third and was like, ¡®Alright. I like not giving up hits. Let¡¯s keep this going.'¡±

Promoted from High-A to Triple-A on Aug. 7, Boyle made his first start for the RailRiders on Thursday. After tossing 66 pitches on Aug. 12 -- his most in a professional game -- the usual reliever didn¡¯t know what his limit would be in his start.

¡°The organization does a good job not letting guys overextend and stuff like that,¡± he said. ¡°Not that I was worried about that, but I was like, hey, it is what it is. I¡¯m here filling in to help out this team. There¡¯s been a lot of action of late, so to be here is awesome. Then to go out and have success, that makes it that much better.

¡°I¡¯m just enjoying every opportunity and trying to make the most of it.¡±

His start was certainly that. Boyle faced just two batters over the minimum despite not having a sterling pregame bullpen session.

¡°My pitch is my slider,¡± he said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t throwing it for a strike, and it didn¡¯t have the break I wanted, but no sweat. You¡¯re going to be lucky to have your best stuff three times a year. You¡¯re going to be lucky to have everything working once in a season. This was just an example of one of those days you¡¯ve just got to go out and compete and find a way.¡±

Boyle issued his only walk with two outs in the first, then retired 14 straight. After hitting Worcester¡¯s Jeremy Rivera with a pitch in the sixth, he set down the final five men he faced.

¡°I was just doing my best to pick apart these hitters with [pitching coach Dustin Glant] and my catcher [Max McDowell],¡± the Dallas Baptist product said. ¡°We were just mixing it up the whole time.¡±

Boyle finished his night with 95 pitches, 59 for strikes, and dropped his Triple-A ERA to 0.59 through 15 1/3 innings. Not bad for a former 25th-rounder from Long Island.

¡°From Dallas to get plucked back into New York and have that connection, that¡¯s really cool,¡± said Boyle, who didn¡¯t even make his high school baseball team until his sophomore year. ¡°It¡¯s something I never expected -- I wanted it -- but it¡¯s super cool to do it for where you¡¯re from.¡±

The righty¡¯s no-no came just over five weeks after he combined with Nick Ernst and Derek Craft on a no-no for Hudson Valley against Brooklyn. Boyle threw the first four innings of that likewise seven-inning game.

¡°That¡¯s one of those moments where everybody¡¯s smiling ear to ear because you guys did it together,¡± he said of the July 10 milestone. "I¡¯m not saying I didn¡¯t do it with the help of my teammates tonight, but it was a different feeling, like, let¡¯s make this happen [solo]. Let¡¯s do it.¡±

Boyle isn¡¯t sure how long his time in Triple-A will last, but if his early success is any indication, he could be around for a while.

¡°These hitters are good, but you can¡¯t give them too much credit,¡± he said. ¡°Like my buddy [RailRiders catcher Rob Brantly] said, you¡¯re never that far away. You¡¯re not as far as you think you are.¡±

This season¡¯s success -- Boyle is now 6-3 with a 2.17 ERA in 20 games (seven starts) between Low-A Tampa, Hudson Valley and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre -- stems in part from a piece of advice the 24-year-old got from fellow DBU alumnus Ben Zobrist: do what you do well.

¡°Before this season, I was trying to throw seven different pitches,¡± he said. "The past two months now, I just narrowed it down to four pitches.

¡°I know my thing is strikes and my thing is a slider. Let¡¯s build on that. Do what you do well.¡±