Isotopes' Gray feeling 'almost invincible'

Jon Gray felt pretty good after posting his second scoreless outing of the season.

"I feel invincible, almost," the Rockies top prospect said. "I feel like there's not a lineup I can't get a quality start against."

Even a Major League lineup?

"Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah," he said. "I remember [in] Spring Training doing pretty well and I'm feeling better now than I did then."

Gray had every right to feel pretty good after yielding three hits and striking out eight over six innings Tuesday night as Triple-A Albuquerque blanked Las Vegas, 3-0, in the first game of a doubleheader at Cashman Field.

"I really just had a good fastball working," said Gray, who issued a pair of walks. "I mixed in some sliders, but I got most of my outs with the fastball. Later in the game, I think in the fifth or sixth inning, I threw a couple changeups that were really, really good that I didn't have earlier. I wish I would have thrown more of those."

MLB.com's No. 12 overall prospect allowed only five baserunners, none consecutively, and didn't let anyone reach third base.

"I just kind of focused on the pitch, really," Gray said. "I try to help out my catcher as much as possible, especially with a runner on first, trying to be good to the plate and being on time. If I get a guy on first, the whole philosophy, everything changes. It's all about how can I get this guy to hit a ground ball or anything like that."

The 23-year-old right-hander helped himself by picking off Darrell Ceciliani at second base with one out in the fourth -- much to his own surprise.

"That's the first time I ever picked off someone back on the wheel move," he said. "It kind of surprised me, too, it was pretty wild. It was before the fourth pitch to the batter. I mixed [the pickoff] in and, sure enough, he just took off running and I kind of froze up for a second. I was like, 'What do I do now?' I felt like a lineman that picks up the football almost."

Fortunately, the University of Oklahoma product was able to overcome his shock in time to make the throw to second and nab the runner. From there, it was smooth sailing as Gray set down six of the next eight batters, allowing only a walk and a single to Wilfredo Tovar. The 2013 first-round pick was pulled to start the seventh, concluding a start he rates as one of his two best this season.

"I felt like I had really good control the whole game. I didn't feel like I had my back against the wall as much as I have this year," he said.

One of the concerns scouts have had with Gray involves walks. While he issued only two against the 51s, he'd walked seven in his previous 10 1/3 innings.

"I was sort of expanding [the zone] a couple weeks ago," he said. "That helped me with my strikeouts. My strikeouts went up, but also I felt like I walked a little more people than I should have. I think a lot of it's just getting strike one, because then you're not thinking unconsciously about the 1-0 pitch like, 'OK, it's going to get hit.' If you're ahead of the guy, you can kind of expand from there."

Control is not Gray's main concern at the moment but stems from his lone regret following Tuesday's start.

"I think if I establish the changeup earlier in the game," he said, "and if I get all three pitches working from the start, I think that would just be huge for me. I think that's what I'll take into my bullpen this week and see if I can change that next start."

Rex Brothers relieved Gray and struck out two in perfect seventh for his second save.

Mets No. 13 prospect Matt Bowman (5-10) recorded his first career complete game, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out five for Las Vegas.