'Topes' Almonte twirls six scoreless innings

Sometimes the worst starts are the easiest ones to forget.
Yency Almonte proved that he has a very short memory with a strong effort in his sixth Triple-A start on Friday night.

The Rockies' No. 10 prospect allowed three hits over six shutout innings as Albuquerque defeated Salt Lake, 3-1, at Isotopes Park. Almonte walked four, struck out three and a hit a batter in his first scoreless effort in the Pacific Coast League.

It was a bounceback effort for the 23-year-old, who surrendered six runs and failed to retire any of the seven batters faced last Saturday against Sacramento. Almonte dominated in the Double-A Eastern League after posting a 2.00 ERA and 71 strikeouts over 76 1/3 frames in 14 starts with Hartford.
"I was just trying to get ahead more than anything," the Miami native said. "Pitching to contact is something I was doing most of the year [in Double-A], but I had sort of gotten away from once I moved up. Tonight, I wanted to get back to the mind-set of getting strike one and let the batter hit the ball to my fielders. Just trying to get ahead, more than anything, pitch to contact."
Gameday box score
Almonte (2-1) walked Shane Robinson in the first and allowed a leadoff single in the second to Rey Navarro, who he picked off at first. Tony Sanchez singled in the third for Salt Lake, but Albuquerque turned the first of three consecutive inning-ending double plays. The Bees put two runners on in the fourth and fifth on two walks, a hit batter and a single but came away empty. Eric Young Jr. led off the sixth with a double to left off Almonte, who induced three straight groundouts that ended his evening after 82 pitches, 47 for strikes.
"Not only are you facing guys who have big league time, you're facing guys with good approaches who know what they want to do," the right-hander said. "If you throw an 0-1 breaker in the dirt, they may swing at it. If you try it again, they take it. It's something I have to learn and something I'm confident I will moving forward." 

Almonte got off to a good start with the Isotopes, allowing two earned runs over seven innings to win his Triple-A debut on July 27. The 2012 17th-round pick held Eastern League opponents to a .212 average but missed almost all of May and made two trips to the disabled list with right shoulder and knee soreness.
Almonte allowed four earned runs over 23 2/3 innings (1.52 ERA) in his first four starts of the year before leaving his May 3 outing with the shoulder issue.
"Missing time set me back, for sure," the Florida high school product said. "Not being in the action and then having to work myself back up was disruptive. When you're only throwing bullpen sessions and not seeing live hitters, it definitely takes a toll. But I'm healthy now and hopefully I can finish off the season strong. 
"I want to try and build off of today's start and head off into the season on a high note."
Zac Rosscup gave up a run in the seventh, but Austin House worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings and Carlos Estévez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save.
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Rockies No. 3 prospect Ryan McMahon opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first for the Isotopes. Ian Desmond singled in three at-bats during the second game of his injury rehab assignment.
Salt Lake starter Daniel Wright (6-10) allowed three runs on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts in seven innings.