Las Vegan Erick Fedde combines on minor league no-hitter

The message via social said that Erick Fedde, a former Las Vegas High and UNLV star, had pitched a no-hitter Thursday night.

He sort of did.

It wasn’t for the Washington Nationals. Or even for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Nats’ Triple-A affiliate, who are playing four games against the Aviators at beautiful Las Vegas Ballpark this weekend.

And it wasn’t a nine-inning no-hitter.

Fedde pitched the first six innings and combined with two others in recording the no-hitter for the Harrisburg Senators, the Nationals’ Double-A team, against the Bowie Baysox.

Explanation: There was no room for the 2014 first-round draft choice in Washington’s rotation when the season started. Rather than ship Fedde to distant Fresno (2,793 miles from the Washington Monument), the Nats put him in Harrisburg (121 miles from the Lincoln Memorial) so he could be recalled at short notice.

As for being limited to six innings and 79 pitches — 50 of which he threw for strikes — that’s just the way baseball is with pitch counts these days.

It still was an excellent outing for the 26-year-old right-hander, 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 11 starts for the Nats in 2018 before shoulder soreness put him on the injured list.

“He was awesome out there,” Harrisburg pitching coach Michael Tejera told MiLB.com. “Erick’s healthy right now, which is the most important thing. He’s got the stuff to be successful in the majors. For him, it’s all about commanding the baseball. Once he gets that down, he’ll be ready to shine up there.”

Feel the Thunder

You never know who is going to jump up and be a hero in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It might even be a guy who wound up playing minor league hockey in Las Vegas.

“When you start throwing in the younger players, it is a bit of a crapshoot, but it’s not unusual,” Mike Milbury, NBC hockey analyst and former Boston Bruins defenseman, said on a teleconference before the playoffs. “I can remember back several times guys like Craig Janney in Boston or Bobby Joyce. I mean, a lot of guys that have come in and have added a certain spark.”

As a 21-year-old rookie, Joyce scored eight goals and added six assists in 23 playoff games for the 1987-88 Bruins, who were swept in the final by the Edmonton Oilers. He scored 15 goals with 18 assists in 63 games for the inaugural Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League a few years later.

He was always quick with a friendly word, and it was good to hear his name again.

Local girl wins Augusta

Do green blazers come in girls sizes, too?

Henderson’s Yana Wilson won the Drive, Chip & Putt championship in the girls age 12-13 division on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National Golf Club in the run-up to this year’s Masters. The 12-year-old Miller Middle School student walloped her drive 230.3 yards to help clinch the win.

She played her way to Augusta through the Youth on Course program, which allows youngsters to play golf at participating courses for $5.

Back to fist bumps

Las Vegan Joey Gallo said he and longtime pal Nomar Mazara of the Texas Rangers will discontinue their intimate home run celebration after internet people made a big deal about it.

This is probably the most politically correct way I can describe it: After Gallo hit his fourth homer of the season, he and Mazara did this ritual in which they appeared to check each other for groin injuries.

“We apologize for that,” the former Bishop Gorman slugger said after TV cameras caught him and Mazara giving each other a low five. “We’ve done it for a while, but we won’t be doing it any longer.”

0:01

Country music star Jake Owen, to Phil Mickelson at Jordan Spieth’s wedding the day after The Match pay-per-view debacle against Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek:

“Hey, Phil, you owe me (expletive) $29.99 for wasting four hours of my life with the (expletive) golf I’ve ever seen.”

Mickelson, to Owen as he reached into his pocket for a wad of $100 bills:

“I won 90,000 of these yesterday. Take a hundred and go (expletive) yourself.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.