Yamamoto posts more zeros for Mudcats

This season, Jordan Yamamoto has had to learn to give up some control. And while that may mean he racks up fewer strikeouts, the results have paid off.
"I've been learning to trust the process, trust everything that the coaches have taught me, trust that my defense will make the plays, my offense will score runs when they need to," the Brewers right-hander said. "We'll win games like that."
Using that mentality, Yamamoto allowed three hits and a walk while striking out seven over seven frames as Class A Advanced Carolina blanked Winston-Salem, 2-0, on Tuesday at Five County Stadium.

"I felt great. Pitches were working, defense had my back; they saw the plays out there," he said. "We had timely hitting, which got us the win as a team."
Gameday box score
Yamamoto (8-4) put his defense to use early, not recording a whiff until the sixth out of the game. The 21-year-old worked his way in and out of trouble early, with all four of the baserunners he allowed getting aboard in the first three innings.

"I think I was trying to do a little bit too much, trying to pick spots, pick corners, when I should just go straight after batters," he said. "This is a great hitting team. They like to swing, they're very aggressive, so I played it differently, but I should've just went straight at them and let them hit the ball."
While the Dash rank second in the league with 102 home runs, Yamamoto grounded the lineup, retiring the final 12 batters he faced in order. Throwing 75 of his 106 pitches for strikes, the Hawaii native secured his ninth quality start in 17 chances.
"I was able to bounce back because I just settled down, I said, 'I'm going to pitch to these guys, I'm going to give them my best stuff and if they hit it, they hit it. If they don't, they don't,'" he recalled. "When they put the ball in play, that just helped me out with the defense working and making great plays behind me."
Top that end, third baseman Lucas Erceg, the No. 10 Brewers prospect, made a barehanded grab in the fourth to retire Louis Silverio.
"I think it's kind of a turn in momentum; it gives me the adrenaline to keep going," the right-hander said. "It tells me that my defense is working, they have my back, and everything just flows after that."

Yamamoto has held Carolina League foes to one earned run over his last four starts with the Mudcats. He's notched a season-best 2.03 ERA in five August outings.
"This is the league that has a lot of tough, tough hitters, tough teams, tough lineups," he said. "So I just learn to pitch to them, to let them hit what I want them to hit, rather than falling behind and throwing pitches up in the zone or right down the middle -- 3-0, 2-0, whatever it is. So I'm throwing pitches where I need to throw it and I'm getting weak contact. That's what's gotten me through these last four starts."
The strong final month of the season has given him a career-best 2.68 ERA in 104 innings across 21 games, including 17 starts. While Yamamoto has 46 fewer strikeouts than last year with one outing to go, he has learned how to let his defense do the work.
"It's been a great journey. I got hurt early in the season, minor setback, but after that, it opened my eyes to my mentality now, which is, 'Every day could be your last' and just take every inning, every pitch like it's your last," he said. "That's what I was thinking after I got hurt and I'm taking it with me now. I'm going to keep moving forward with that mentality, because you just never know."
• Get tickets to a Mudcats game »
Yamamoto added that Carolina has been one of the best teams he's ever been a part of, on and off the field, including Erceg, who hit the decisive two-run shot in the fourth and Nate Griep, who fanned two in a perfect ninth for his 27th save. The closer stands alone in second place in the Mudcats' single-season saves record book.