Ponies' Oswalt spins seven-inning shutout

The key to Corey Oswalt's success this year has been his ability to give his team a solid effort every fifth day. On Thursday night, he went above and beyond.
The Mets No. 28 prospect retired the final 20 batters faced and allowed two hits over seven innings in the first complete game of his career as Double-A Binghamton took down Trenton, 2-0, in Game 1 of a doubleheader at NYSEG Stadium. He struck out six and didn't issue any walks.

"It felt really good when I got that final out," the 23-year-old right-hander said. "But I know that as long as I stick to my routine every week and work hard to make sure I'm prepared, everything else will fall in place."
Oswalt allowed back-to-back singles to Jeff Hendrix and Thairo Estrada to start the game. The 2012 seventh-round pick got Billy Fleming to pop out before Mike Ford grounded into a double play to end the inning. 
"Those two singles definitely helped me lock in," Oswalt noted. "Those two hits happened quickly and they weren't bad pitches or anything, they just jumped on me early. From there, I settled down and knew I had to make a pitch to get out of it. Once I did, I kind of just locked in."
Gameday box score
The 6-foot-5 righty retired the last 20 hitters he faced. He didn't exceed 15 pitches in any inning and only faced two three-ball counts.
"All of my pitches were working and [Binghamton catcher] Tomás Nido and I had a good gameplan going," Oswalt said. "We wanted to establish the fastball on both sides of the plate and to change speeds. Once I knew all of my pitches were working, that helped to speed up the game because I was consistent around the zone and was getting a lot of weak contact."
The San Diego native wasn't aware of the string he was putting together as the innings rolled on.
"I didn't realize I retired 20 in a row until after the game. I was locked in so I didn't notice that happened," he said. 

Oswalt (8-4) leads the Eastern League with a 2.43 ERA through 19 starts this year. He sports a 1.20 WHIP with 86 strikeouts and 32 walks in 103 2/3 innings.
While he's been consistent all season, the California high-school product has turned things up lately. Over his last 10 starts, Oswalt has a 1.71 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. He has held opponents to a .229 average with eight quality starts in that span. 
"The real key for me this year has been getting ahead right away and attacking them with what I've got," he said. "I've also been able to throw all of my pitches for strikes consistently. I'm been going out there to compete everyday and letting everything else kind of take care of itself. I know my ability so I'm not surprised. This is just another step forward for me."
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Yankees No. 10 prospectNick Solak hit his first Double-A home run and a double to lead Trenton to a 4-1 win in Game 2. New York promoted the 22-year-old Tuesday to take the spot left when Jorge Mateo was traded to Oakland.
Jose Mesa Jr. (1-0) gave up a run on three hits with seven strikeouts in five innings during his Eastern League debut for the Thunder in the nightcap.