Yanks' Keller in control to earn weekly honor

Brian Keller has shown he isn't afraid to pitch to contact but possesses the stuff to miss bats as well. In 17 games this season, Keller has yielded 89 hits over 97 innings; however, he's also whiffed 88 and been able to limit the damage, posting a 3.62 ERA this season, including a 2.43 mark in July.

That knack to bend but not break was on full display over two starts last week as he helped lead Double-A Trenton to victory in a pair of tight games. Those performances are also the reason that the Yankees pitching prospect has been named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for July 23-29.

The right-hander allowed one run on 13 hits and did not issue a walk while fanning 15 over 11 2/3 frames. It is the second Pitcher of the Week award for the 24-year-old, who received the honor exactly one year ago with Class A Advanced Tampa in the Florida State League.

Keller earned victories when the Thunder defeated Hartford by the score of 1-0 on July 24 and five days later took care of Portland, 4-1. He stranded four runners in scoring position last week, retired the side in order three times and fired a total of 196 pitches -- 128 for strikes. His 15 punchouts led all Eastern League hurlers, and his two victories also tied atop the circuit. The only blemish for Keller last week was a leadoff dinger by Red Sox No. 10 prospectJosh Ockimey that came on a 3-1 fastball in the fourth inning against the Sea Dogs.

Keller credited his defense earlier this season for his confidence to attack the zone.

"I could throw whatever I wanted up, down, in and out, and I knew I had a good defense behind me," he told MiLB.com's Andrew Battifarano after tossing eight scoreless innings on May 18.

• View the Offensive Player of the Week winners »

Against the Yard Goats, Keller scattered seven hits and had six punchouts over 5 2/3 scoreless frames. He allowed at least one hit in every inning except the fifth, and after allowing back-to-back hits to start the sixth, he got No. 26 Rockies prospectBrian Mundell to fly out to left and struck out 24th-ranked Roberto Ramos on fives pitches before being removed for lefty Phillip Diehl, who ended the frame by fanning No. 9 prospect Sam Hilliard.
On Sunday, Keller yielded a run on six hits while whiffing a season-high nine over six innings. He sat down the side in order in the third and sixth and finished his outing by retiring the final four batters he faced.

"You've just got to refocus and lock back in and make sure you make some really quality pitches," he told MiLB.com earlier in the season. "It's just to make sure you can keep it rolling, and that's really the key."

Keller went 11-8 with a 3.13 ERA and 1.14 WHIP across the Class A South Atlantic and Florida State leagues last season; he's 8-7 with an 3.62 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 16 starts and one relief appearance for Trenton.

Below is the complete list of Minor League Pitchers of the Week for July 23-29:

League	Player	Team	MLB	Stats
International	Robert Stephenson	Louisville	CIN	1-0, 1.29 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 1 SHO, 14 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 8 K
Pacific Coast	Brock Stewart	Oklahoma City	LAD	0-0, 1.29 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Eastern	Brian Keller	Trenton	NYY	2-0, 0.77 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 11 2/3 IP, 13 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 HBP, 0 BB, 15 K
Southern	Trey Supak	Biloxi	MIL	1-0, 1.38 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 13 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 12 K
Texas	Chase De Jong	Arkansas	SEA	0-1, 1.93 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 14 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 15 K
California	Darren McCaughan	Modesto	SEA	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Carolina	Erick Leal	Myrtle Beach	CHC	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 1 GS, 8 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K
Florida State	Blake Bivens	Charlotte	TB	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HBP, 1 BB, 5 K
Midwest	Jayson McKinley	Kane County	ARI	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 SHO, 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 HBP, 0 BB, 7 K
South Atlantic	Trevor Rogers	Greensboro	MIA	0-0, 1.32 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 13 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 19 K
New York-Penn	Michael Baird	State College	STL	0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Northwest	Jose Espada	Vancouver	TOR	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Appalachian	Yerelmy Garcia	Burlington	KC	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Pioneer	Victor Castaneda	Helena	MIL	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K