Daniel's Gem Leads Salt Lake to Shutout Win Over Oklahoma City
The Salt Lake Bees picked up their first shutout of the season on Friday evening, using a masterful performance from starter Davis Daniel to cruise to a 4-0 victory over the Oklahoma City Baseball Club. Daniel took the ball for his first outing in nine days and showed no signs
The Salt Lake Bees picked up their first shutout of the season on Friday evening, using a masterful performance from starter Davis Daniel to cruise to a 4-0 victory over the Oklahoma City Baseball Club.
Daniel took the ball for his first outing in nine days and showed no signs of rust whatsoever, turning in what was arguably the best start of his four-year minor league career. The righty finished 8.1 shutout innings, allowing just four hits and walking none while striking out six OKC hitters. Daniel got better as the game went on, retiring 15 in a row at one point and facing the minimum number of hitters from the beginning of the third inning all the way through the game’s final frame. This marked the longest outing by any pitcher in the Pacific Coast League since Oklahoma City’s Yefry Ramirez tossed a complete game shutout against Round Rock on May 12, 2022, and it was the first time that a Salt Lake pitcher recorded an out in the ninth inning since César Valdez’s complete game against Tacoma nearly two years to the day on May 5, 2022. Upon Daniel’s departure, José Marte picked up the final two outs of the night, shutting the door on OKC and earning his second save of the year.
Davis Daniel shoved on a Friday night 🔥
— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) May 4, 2024
8.1 IP | 4 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 6 K pic.twitter.com/RGq0FJGh7V
Daniel’s sterling performance meant that he needed little offensive support from the Bees lineup, but they made sure to help give their starter some breathing room throughout his outing. Elliot Soto drove in Jordyn Adams with a base hit through the left side just two batters into the game to get things going, and Zach Humphreys brought home two runs of his own in the fourth and sixth innings on a single up the middle and a bloop double into center field. Jason Martin joined Soto and Humphreys with a multi-hit performance, and Hunter Dozier got into the RBI column with a groundout that helped extend his team-leading total to 15.
The Bees will now look to pick up their third win of the series against Oklahoma City on Saturday, with Brett Kerry scheduled to take the ball at 5:05 p.m.