Franco dazzles in spot duty for M-Braves

Enderson Franco wasn't even supposed to be on the mound for his team Monday. By the end of the night, the right-hander had delivered a performance to remember.
Pressed into spot-start duty, Franco took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and finished with seven one-hit frames, striking out eight without a walk as Double-A Mississippi blanked Birmingham, 3-0.

Mississippi was scheduled to turn to Atlanta's No. 2 prospectKyle Wright on Monday, but Wright was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett earlier in the day, opening the door for Franco. The 25-year-old had pitched in relief for two of his previous four outings and eight of 21 this season in the Southern League.
"It may be the first of many starts," M-Braves pitching coach Dennis Lewallyn said. "He's probably going to go into [Wright's] spot, and he filled it very nicely.
"He had actually had five days off, because he'd been in and out of the rotation. He's kind of a jack of all trades. He's pretty much ready to do whatever we need him to do. His last time in relief, he went five innings and I think 76 pitches. When Kyle went up, I said, 'Hey, this will be your fifth day off, so we're going to start you in his spot. Just give us whatever you've got.'"
Gameday box score
Franco made sure his team didn't skip a beat, though his night started with a hiccup when he drilled Birmingham leadoff hitter Joel Booker to open the game. One inning later, Franco plunked Alex Call with a one-out pitch, but the righty followed by retiring the next 10 Barons he saw. In the fifth, he beaned Bryant Flete with two outs, but pitched out of that spot as well, striking out the next four batters.
"It's the best I've ever seen him pitch," Lewallyn said. "He threw his fastball to both sides of the plate with a decent breaking ball and a really good changeup and was never really in any trouble."
After fanning the side in the sixth, Franco induced a leadoff flyout to center field by Trey Michalczewski for the final out of his no-hit bid. Trying to spark his offense in a scoreless game, Danny Mendick beat out a bunt single to third base to get the Barons into the hit column.

"It was a 0-0 game, and they're trying to win the game just like we are," Lewallyn said. "The guy got on base and he's a fast runner as well. We did a nice job of keeping him close so he couldn't steal, but when you've got a guy who can run like that in a 0-0 game or even if it'd been 1-0, they're still trying to win the game. I don't have a problem with [bunting in that situation]."

Franco still faced the minimum in the inning, getting Call to pop out to shortstop and leaving the mound after Mendick was caught stealing at second base by catcher Carlos Martínez.
"It's the most aggressive he's been all year," Lewallyn said. "He's got good stuff, but he tends to go out here and nibble a little too much. Tonight he just stayed aggressive, and I give kudos to our catcher too. Carlos Martinez has done an outstanding job and they communicated well. He shook him off maybe twice all night."
Franco finished his night having thrown 101 pitches, 62 for strikes and turned in his gem against a tough draw. Dylan Cease nearly matched Franco. The No. 5 White Sox prospect scattered five hits and two walks while striking out seven over six scoreless innings.

"That's part of the game, and you can either back off and give in or you can go out and try and match him pitch for pitch," the pitching coach said. "I think it was good for everybody because that guy does have good stuff, very good stuff, and was impressive to watch. For Enderson to match him pretty much pitch for pitch -- and actually Enderson's numbers were better than his were -- it was fun to watch."
Mississippi broke through for three runs against Birmingham reliever Brandon Brennan in the eighth with RBI singles by Tyler Neslony and Sal Giardina.