Bloomquist pitches gem with heavy heart

Casey Bloomquist pitched seven scoreless innings for Class A South Bend on Saturday, but he had trouble soaking up the performance.

"I definitely felt mixed emotions," he said. "You want to celebrate after a good outing, but [it's tough] when there's someone missing from your life."

Taking the hill a day after his uncle, Dave Bloomquist, passed away, Casey etched the initials "D.B." onto the mound before he helped the Cubs blank Dayton, 5-0, at Fifth Third Field. He yielded three hits and a walk while matching a career high with seven strikeouts.

"My uncle was always one of my biggest supporters," Bloomquist said, "He always asked how I'm doing, what I'm doing to increase my level of play. He was definitely a huge baseball fan and I know he would've been proud after looking down on the game tonight."

The 22-year-old right-hande was making his fourth start of the season after going 3-2 with a 2.95 ERA over 36 2/3 innings in 14 relief appearances. He allowed three earned runs over his previous three starts.

"My command was pretty good," Bloomquist said. "Normally, it's something I pride myself on -- not walking hitters -- but my mentality was just to go up there and give our defense a chance to help win a game."

After allowing a one-hit single by James Vazquez in the second inning, the 2015 17th-round pick retired the next 13 batters, striking out the side in the fourth, before yielding a bunt single to Zack Shields with two outs in the sixth.

"The sinker and changeup were pretty much what got me through today," Bloomquist said. "The slider wasn't quite there, but I was just mixing those two pitches and had my defense get the ground balls."

Bloomquist (5-3) came in the game with a 2.33 groundout/flyout ratio and induced 10 ground-ball outs against the Dragons.

"That pretty much is my game," he said. "Strikeouts are kind of here and there and fly balls are normally when I'm in trouble. If I can get ground-ball outs, I feel like that's what will keep me in this game."

Bloomquist, who made a spot start in a doubleheader against West Michigan on June 4, ended up securing a slot in the rotation after allowing one run on five hits over five innings in that outing.

"I was pumped up because I started pretty much my whole life," he said. "I had a decent outing and next thing you know, I was just in the rotation. It worked out perfectly."

The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo product prefers to start, but said he's willing to do whatever is asked of him.

"If the Cubs wanted to ask me to be in the bullpen, I'd do it at a drop of a hat," Bloomquist said. 

He exited after throwing 60 of 79 pitches for strikes in an outing he dedicated to his uncle. He said pitching with a heavy heart is not new to him.

"Normally, I just kind of go about my day with a normal routine before a start," Bloomquist said, "And right before I step on the mound, I write the initials on the mound, which is usually for my cousin [Clayton Selby]. He was in a really bad car accident and he's handicapped in a wheelchair. He's a paraplegic, so every time I go out and pitch for him, I have that little reminder that I get to come out and play a game I love and not take anything for granted."

The California native said he takes a moment to reflect on those thoughts before each outing, then gets right back to business.

"Right when I write it, it's really heavy on my heart," Bloomquist said. "But I take a couple of deep breaths and then focus on the game. I use it as motivation."

John Williamson and Pedro Araujo each pitched a scoreless inning after Bloomquist exited as South Bend registered its sixth shutout. Carlos Sepulveda had two hits, while Cubs No. 10 prospect Eloy Jimenez slugged a three-run homer in the eighth.

Dayton starter Jose Lopez (4-7) allowed two runs on four hits and two walks while fanning four over seven innings.