Kelly's gem completes I-Cubs' sweep

Casey Kelly was just looking for a strong building block early in the season. What he got on Wednesday night was one of the best outings of his career.
Kelly registered his first career complete game and shutout, allowing two hits over seven innings, as Triple-A Iowa completed a doubleheader sweep of Oklahoma City with a 4-0 win at Principal Park. He struck out four and walked three.

In his first season in the Cubs organization, Kelly stayed behind when his Triple-A teammates broke camp in April. He strained a forearm muscle during Spring Training, didn't the I-Cubs until May 17 and was 2-1 with a 6.50 ERA in his first four starts.
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"I had a couple good ones, a couple bad ones, and it was nice to come out today and give the team a chance to win," the 27-year-old right-hander said. "I ended up going seven innings, which was great. I just feel like I'm trying to get better every day and we'll see what happens."
Results were mixed upon Kelly's return. He went at least five innings in three of four outings but allowed four earned runs in his second start and six in his most recent outing on Friday against Nashville. Despite the ups and downs, Kelly said his arm has felt strong.
"I feel like it's coming along quite well," he said. "I've just been working every day to fine-tune my craft and focus on each day to get better. Hopefully, I go out on game days and pitch well.
"I'm just going out there every fifth day and competing and staying healthy. That's been my biggest thing. I've got to stay on the field. I've got to stay healthy, and everything else will take care of itself."

Iowa took Wednesday's opener, 5-4, but needed four pitchers to do it. Dylan Floro worked four scoreless innings, but relievers Andury Acevedo, Conor Mullee and Manny Parra had to hold the line as Round Rock's rally fell short. That win, and Iowa's two losses to open the five-game series on Monday and Tuesday, gave Kelly an idea of what he'd encounter in the nightcap.
"When you get a chance to see a team, you kind of just see how they are during the game, see how our pitchers pitch them and see what's working for them, see if they make adjustments," he said. "Since this is the third or fourth game in the series, obviously, it's a bonus for us to see them a couple times, see how they react to pitches and get a game plan going on what we want to do to them."

Kelly and catcher Ali Solis found a groove early. Scott Van Slyke singled to left field to open the second and singled again leading off the fifth, but Kelly never broke. The 2008 first-round pick faced his biggest jam in the fifth when he walked Dodgers No. 2 prospect Alex Verdugo and Kyle Farmer behind Van Slyke's single, but Kelly induced popouts from Mike Freeman and Drew Maggi before O'Koyea Dickson flied to right to leave the bases loaded.
"We got into a good rhythm early, getting ahead in the count and -- especially with two strikes -- finishing guys off," Kelly said. "I felt like we were throwing good fastballs down and in to get some ground balls when I needed to. All night, we were just on the same page. [Solis] did a great job back there."
Kelly retired seven of the final eight batters to record Iowa's first complete-game seven-inning shutout since Eric Jokisch on July 30, 2014 at New Orleans.
"It's awesome," he said. "There aren't too many times when you get to, especially in the Minor Leagues, to throw a complete game. To have the doubleheader, where you only get seven, you always want to do that, but it doesn't always work out. It worked out on my side today, and obviously to save the bullpen is a great thing. I had a couple outings where they've had to cover me for about six innings, so it's definitely good to help those guys out."
Cubs No. 25 prospect Jacob Hanneman went 3-for-4 with a run scored in the opener, while No. 13 prospect Chesny Young drove in a run in the second game.