Quakes' Bray faces minimum in one-hitter

There was no shortage of things for Adam Bray to be proud of after his start on Sunday. He tossed a nine-inning complete game. And a one-hitter. And a shutout. And on fewer than 99 pitches -- a "Maddux."
The thing he found most satisfying though?
"The fact that it was probably my best start in pro ball -- that really hit me," the Dodgers right-hander said. "And just that my parents and my family could watch this game [on MiLB.TV] and celebrate along with me." 
Turning in his first professional complete game and Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga's first complete-game shutout in more than two years, Bray faced the minimum. He allowed a lone single and struck out eight in a 5-0 win at San Jose. 

Box score
"It was fun. Anytime we can beat the Giants affiliate, it's a fun time," said Bray (5-2), who lowers his ERA to 3.61 in 19 games, including 13 starts. "Me and Keibert Ruiz, the catcher, had a really good game plan going in. The San Jose Giants can swing it well and they're very aggressive. I wanted to throw a lot of strikes, and it helped a lot to get up, 4-0, in the first. That let me not worry about being too fine and just attack the zone."

Bray fanned two in the first and struck out the side in the second. Jonah Arenado grounded a single to center field to start the third, but Bray induced an infield pop off the bat of Matt Winn and got John Polonius to bounce into a double play. 
"[Arenado's single] was decently hard-hit up the middle," the South Dakota State product said. "I was trying to throw a fastball away, but it caught a lot of the plate and he hit it up the middle. It didn't bother me at all. He's a good hitter and that's baseball -- they're going to get hits. Luckily, that was the only one all game."

In fact, after that knock, Bray retired 20 in a row to complete the game in just over two hours.
"Executing pitches was my goal and I did that really well," he said. "In one of these games, you just go out there and try to keep the lead. These guys are so aggressive, you want to keep them off-balance, working quickly, and I did a good job of that."
Although he'd never gone deeper than the seventh inning, Bray was confident Quakes manager Drew Saylor and pitching coach Kip Wells would let him to keep working as long as he was efficient.
"Being up, 5-0, late in the game, [the Giants were] just swinging, trying to get back in the game," he said. "For me, staying in the zone and attacking was a must. My pitch [limit] is at 100 and they wanted me close to that. Luckily, I was able to make it all nine."
In the ninth, Bray got Arenado to pop out, then fanned Winn and Polonius.
At that point, he was feeling "a lot of adrenaline."
"I wanted to finish what I started," he said. "Keibert was calling a really good game and it was the bottom of the order. If I just attacked, I knew I could get the outs."

When he did, he'd thrown 70 of 93 pitches for strikes to become the first Quakes starter to go the distance in a shutout since John Richy on May 28, 2015.
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Ruiz, the Dodgers' 12th-ranked prospect, hit his third homer in nine Cal League games, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. 
"The guy's incredible," Bray said. "He just turned 19 [on Thursday] and his feel for the game like he has is absolutely incredible. And he's got a pretty swing, so it was fun to see him get a couple knocks."
Making his Class A Advanced debut, Dodgers No. 26 prospect Brendon Davis was 2-for-4 with a double.
Pablo Sandoval, playing in his second game back with the Giants organization, went 0-for-3 for San Jose.