Lewicki rebounds with seven shutout frames

Coming off his worst start of the season against Portland on June 19, Artie Lewicki turned in his finest outing of the 2017 campaign Monday.
Detroit's No. 21 prospect allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings as Double-A Erie rolled host Akron at Canal Park, 9-1. Lewicki struck out six batters and didn't issue a walk for the third time in 14 starts this year.

Gameday box score
"[SeaWolves manager Lance Parrish] once told me that the lows are never as bad as they seem and the highs are never as good as they seem," Lewicki said. "You have to stay even-keeled .... and as soon as the game's over, try to take something from the game and learn from it, but at the same time forget about it and move forward. I tried to put that Portland game behind me and focus on the present and do what I needed to do to have success."
The 25-year-old right-hander was locked in from the start, retiring the first seven RubberDucks batters before Dorssys Paulino doubled with one out in the third. Lewicki set down the next 12 batters before Indians No. 2 prospectFrancisco Mejía doubled in the seventh. The pair of doubles marked the only baserunners Lewicki allowed all night.

"[Catcher Grayson Greiner] and I were on the same page all night," Lewicki said. "Just throwing where Gray was setting up, really pitching off my fastball and being able to induce weak contact and pitch to the bottom of the zone. Most of my outs tonight were when I located my fastball. When I got beat was when I left it up."
The 2014 eighth-round pick pitched with the lead from the third inning on as Ross Kivett doubled and scored on a single to left field by Detroit's No. 7 prospect Mike Gerber. Kivett later doubled in a run with two outs in the fourth. After an RBI double by second-ranked Tigers prospect Christin Stewart, Greiner belted a two-run homer to left-center in the fifth to build a 6-0 lead.
"It's always fun to pitch when we're playing well. It's great to see the rest of the guys hitting the ball," Lewicki said. "They did their jobs, and it puts the pressure on me to do my job. It's fun when everyone's playing well.
"Those guys are great players, once they're in their element and find their groove, they're fun to watch. Stewart has 18 homers this year, Gerber is playing a great center field and hitting the ball well, Greiner has really come on of late, and it makes my job easier with those guys behind me."

Lewicki had thrown at least 90 pitches in all but two of his last 11 starts, but needed just 85 to match his career high with seven innings. With the SeaWolves extending their lead to 9-0 in the eighth after a two-run double by Gerber, Parrish decided not to extend the New Jersey native into the eighth.

"That's up to the skipper, and when he says it's over, it's over," Lewicki said. "I was just happy I was able to go out there and do what I did. I was pretty efficient with 85 pitches, and it was a good place to end for sure."
Gerber ended the night 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs while Stewart, Greiner, Kivett and Dominic Ficociello added two hits apiece.
Mejia had two of Akron's three hits, including a solo homer in the ninth off Erie reliever Adam Ravenelle, his first long ball since June 11 and his ninth of the season.