Hernandez goes on cruise control for Drive

For the third straight outing, Darwinzon Hernandez wasn't charged with a run. But what impressed Class A Greenville pitching coach Walter Miranda the most about his southpaw didn't show up in Wednesday's box score. 
"Tonight, he showed some maturity," Miranda said. "That's something we've been expecting and now that he's getting better and working as a pitcher, that's what he showed me. He was a little inconsistent early on and he just made adjustment after adjustment and got better as the game went on."

The No. 25 Red Sox prospect allowed three hits and three walks while striking out six over 5 2/3 innings as the Drive blanked the Asheville Tourists, 8-0, at Fluor Field at the West End. 
Box score
Hernandez (2-1) allowed Carlos Herrera to reach on a bunt to open the game, but catcher Isaias Lucena caught Herrera trying to steal second. The Venezuela native's early struggles continued when he plunked the next batter, Jose Gomez, but Hernandez snapped into form with two strikeouts of Colton Welker and Vince Fernandez to end the threat. 

 After a clean second, the 20-year-old worked around a single by Cole Anderson and a walk to Carlos Herrera in the third by getting Gomez to ground out to short.
"When we spoke in between innings, I just reminded him to stay focused. All it takes is one good pitch to get out of trouble or to pull himself back in the count. That's what he did today -- he made the necessary pitch when he was behind," Miranda added.
Following a leadoff walk to Welker in the fourth, Hernandez put together six straight outs to earn himself the chance at another frame.
"He told me that he wanted to stay in the game, and the way he pitched the fifth, he earned it," Miranda said. "He just went after the hitters and worked a quick inning, so I said you're going back out. He knew that if he was pitching well, I wasn't going to take the ball from him. That's why he went back out for the sixth."

Hernandez retired two batters in the sixth before Welker's single ended his night. Reliever Hildemaro Requena allowed two hits in 2 1/3 innings before Stephen Nogosek put together a 1-2-3 ninth inning to preserve the shutout.
After six starts this season, 6-foot-2 lefty sports a 2.30 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Hernandez has racked up 35 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .177 batting average in 27 1/3 innings.
"His stuff is so good. But the thought process has been much better," Miranda said. "In the past, he always believed that when he was in trouble he had to throw hard. This year we're trying to change that. He doesn't need to throw harder or do more than you're capable of doing to get out of trouble. He already throws hard, so he doesn't need to throw hard, and his curveball is already good enough to get swings-and-misses, so he just needs to stay within himself."

Ryan Scott paced the Drive offense with three RBIs and Boston's No. 4 prospect Bobby Dalbec collected a pair of hits and an RBI. Catcher Roldani Baldwin capped the offense with a grand slam in the eighth.
Erick Julio (3-3) surrendered three runs on six hits and whiffed six over six innings for the Tourists.