Frisco's Mendez takes no-hitter into seventh

For batters to get a sense of what kind of night they are in for against Yohander Méndez, they need look no further than to see if he has early command of his fastball.
On Friday night, there was little anyone could do against the left-hander.
The Rangers' second-ranked prospect took a no-hitter into the seventh inning for Double-A Frisco in its 3-0 win over San Antonio at Nelson Wolff Stadium. Mendez yielded two hits, struck out five and walked three to earn his first win since topping Springfield in his season debut on April 8.
"His confidence in his fastball, I think, is where it will begin and end for him," said Rangers' assistant pitching coordinator Jeff Andrews. "When it's productive for him and it allows him to get outs and pitch with it until the time in the game where he can go ahead and lean on his best pitches, I think it provides him a better balance and more confidence as a pitcher to have that weapon.

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"He started well and gained confidence early. He has such nice secondary pitches, but he established his fastball and used it well. The defense got him a couple of nice plays that kept him in the game and the innings just rolled through."
Mendez issued all his walks in the first four frames. He retired the side in order in the fifth and struck out the side in the sixth. 

"He is a confident kid and he still had his best pitch in his back pocket," Andrews said. "When the times got tough, he just went to his best pitch and pulled himself out of some tight spots and kind of gave him a little push into the sixth and seventh."
A single from Nick Torres leading off the seventh broke up the Venezuelan's no-hit bid, but the feat was the last thing on Mendez's mind at the time.
"He was still in the ballgame," Andrews said. "He was looking at first and second and then he rolled a double play and got a groundout and that was it. He kept his composure, executed his pitches and things didn't get out of control. He had a nice feel of what he needed to do to make the pitches and get what he needed."

The scoreless outing matched a season best for MLB.com's No. 49 overall prospect, which also came against the Missions on April 25. Mendez has yet to give up an earned run in four career starts in San Antonio, spanning 19 innings. 

Reed Garrett preserved the victory for Mendez with two perfect innings for his second save.
Royce Bolinger hit a two-run homer in the second for the RoughRiders.