Left-hander Nathan Baker was solid in his Double-A debut for the Altoona in the Curve’s 4-2 win on Friday. The prospect allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits over five innings. Baker walked one and struck out five while throwing 79 pitches, 50 for strikes.
“It was great,” Baker said after his outing. “I had a lot of support for me today. Tony [Sanchez] was awesome behind the dish tonight. Every pitch he wanted, and every pitch I wanted, he followed…We were both drafted the same year, but it was the first time he’s ever caught me in a game.”
Baker allowed a leadoff walk to start his outing, then his next batter Brandon Douglas hit a hard bouncer to first base. The ball took a bad hop off Matt Curry’s glove and went into shallow right field allowing the runners to advance to second and third base. Baker struck out his next batter, but Rawley Bishop hit a sac fly to right to plate the first run.
In his second inning of work, Baker gave up a two-out RBI triple to the gap in let center field. Outfielder Quincy Latimore took a bad route to the ball, allowing the run to score.
From there, Baker allowed just one base runner (a walk) over his next three hitless frames.
“I loved his first two innings that we didn’t take care of the ball,” Curve Manager P.J. Forbes said. “It never rattled him. He kept attacking, kept attacking. Pitched three scoreless innings after that. For me, poise for his first Double-A outing. He stayed in attack mode. He didn’t start trying to pick and pitch away from contact.”
The 24-year-old posted a 3.34 ERA over 29 appearances (25 starts) with High-A Bradenton in 2011.
Beckman Exits With Elbow Injury
Right-hander Ryan Beckman was taken out of the game in the middle of an at-bat in the 8th inning. Beckman gave up a leadoff single, then struck out his next batter. After throwing a pitch to his next batter, however, Beckman immediately grabbed his right elbow. The Curve training staff and Manager Forbes came to the mound, and he was removed from the game.
Beckman will see a doctor tomorrow and be reevaluated.
“[He] said he felt something in his elbow,” Forbes said. “We’ll wait until he sees a doctor and go from there…I don’t think he was really comfortable coming out of the bullpen. Talking to the guys down in the bullpen said he felt tight. Hard telling exactly at what point the did it. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.”
Notes:
- Right-hander Tim Alderson looked sharp in his two innings of relief. Alderson needed just eight pitches in his perfect first frame. In the seventh inning, Alderson struck out the side, two looking. Overall, Alderson allowed one hit over two innings with a walk and three strikeouts.
- Catcher Tony Sanchez ripped a RBI double to the center field wall in the Curve’s 4-2 win on Friday, which tied the game at 2. Sanchez, who lacked power in 2011 with the Curve, also hit for extra bases on Thursday by picking up a triple. He finished by going 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI.
“I’m not so worried about the power,” Forbes said. “That’s there. For me, it’s the approach. He’ll hit. Last year, he seemed to be out of sorts the whole year. He had a real good spring training. Hopefully he’ll carry it over.”
- Second baseman Jarek Cunningham went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
- The Curve pounded out 11 hits off the Sea Wolves pitchers in the win. All the starters recorded at least one hit expect designated hitter Ramon Cabrera.
