Japan's Tanaka helps Yankees no-hit Tigers

Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka threw 4 1/3 hitless innings and combined with two New York Yankees' relievers Friday for a 3-0 no-hit victory over Detroit in a Major League Baseball pre-season game.

Tanaka, a 28-year-old right-hander who joined the Yankees from the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2014, continued his pre-season mastery of the Tigers, which included a prior four-inning hitless outing last week and two perfect innings on February 28.

In 10 1/3 hitless innings against Detroit, the only base runners he allowed were on two first-inning walks Friday.

Yankees relievers Chasen Shreve and Jordan Montgomery followed Tanaka onto the mound to deliver the final outs without surrendering a hit to the Tigers.

It was the first no-hitter in Florida pre-season exhibition games since 2015 and the first in Lakeland since 2009.

Tanaka, who went 14-4 last year with a 3.07 earned-run average for the Yankees, was named the team's opening-day starter by manager Joe Girardi for the third consecutive season.

Tanaka is 39-16 over three seasons with the Yankees and seven seasons in the Japan League. He helped Japan capture the 2009 World Baseball Classic crown.