Garcia hurls five hitless in Thunder debut
A year ago, Deivi Garcia was a week removed from his 10th and final start of his first season in the United States. He made his Double-A debut and final start of the 2018 season even more memorable. In fact, it was almost historic.The 12th-ranked Yankees prospect tossed five hitless
A year ago,
The 12th-ranked Yankees prospect tossed five hitless innings, striking out seven, and Trenton came within four outs of a no-hitter in a 3-0 win over Reading on Sunday night at ARM & HAMMER Park. The victory clinched the Thunder's second consecutive Eastern League Eastern Division title and third straight playoff appearance.
In a season full of notable outings, Sunday's might have been the best for Garcia (1-0), who began the year in extended spring training and made quite an impression on Trenton manager Jay Bell.
"Our pitching coordinator, Scott Aldred, has visited a few times and in each instance, Deivi's name would come up," the Thunder's first-year skipper said. "He'd talk about the way he handles himself, the stuff he has and the quality of his outings. But it was a situation where we needed someone for tonight and he stepped in on short notice and delivered a big outing. It's quite a story for him to have accomplished what he's done this year, and it gave us a big boost at the right time."
Gameday box score
The 19-year-old pitched three perfect frames before issuing consecutive walks to
"He pounded the strike zone pretty well," Bell said. "His fastball had nice life and he threw a late-breaking curve which produced some pretty odd swings. He also mixed in a decent changeup a few times. He's got the whole package and he was facing some real quality hitters on that Reading club. It was not an easy task to pitch through a very tough lineup, but he did and did it well."
The outing capped a meteoric rise for the native of the Dominican Republic, who began last season in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League and ended it with Pulaski in the Appalachian League. Garcia made his 2018 debut with Class A Advanced Tampa on June 5 before settling in with Class A Charleston for eight starts. He returned to the Florida State League on Aug. 6 and went 2-0 with a 1.14 ERA and 28 strikeouts over 23 2/3 innings in four starts.
Garcia finished the year with a 5-4 record, 2.55 ERA and 105-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 74 innings across three levels.
Hodson held the Fightin Phils out of the hit column through the sixth and seventh until Hernandez grounded his 2-2 offering into center field in the eighth. The 23-year-old had been mired in a 3-for-29 slump.
"You always want to see a no-hitter; it would have been fun," Bell said. "But our relievers did a great job coming in and slamming the door. It was disappointing that we didn't get the no-hitter, but we maintained the shutout and got the win. That's what we were looking for."
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Trenton extended its scoreless streak to 26 innings while pitching its 11th shutout of the year to leapfrog New Hampshire for the division crown.
"When I was managing last year [with Tampa], we won the division and played really well from start to finish," Bell said. "This year was different for me. We had to fight for everything we got. We had a lot of players make appearances for us and everyone who has come in did their own little part to help us out. I would say it's been a more enjoyable season for me because we've been chasing a good New Hampshire club all season. To get into first place yesterday and then clinch today was pretty special."
Reading starter
Phillies No. 22 prospect
Michael Avallone is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @MavalloneMiLB.