Gohara gaining strength for Fire Frogs
Luiz Gohara rewarded the decision to push his latest start into the seventh inning, something he'd done only once in his professional career, with a dominant performance fueled by a fastball that's reached triple digits on the radar gun.The Braves' No. 10 prospect allowed four hits with seven strikeouts over seven
Luiz Gohara rewarded the decision to push his latest start into the seventh inning, something he'd done only once in his professional career, with a dominant performance fueled by a fastball that's reached triple digits on the radar gun.
The Braves' No. 10 prospect allowed four hits with seven strikeouts over seven scoreless innings for Class A Advanced Florida in a 3-1 victory over Clearwater on Friday at Osceola County Stadium.
"He was actually throwing harder in the seventh inning than he was in the other part of the game," Fire Frogs pitching coach Dennis Lewallyn said. "I think he had that sense that this might be his last inning so he was going to let it fly and he did.
"We didn't know that he was going to throw harder when he went out there, but it was obvious when he finished the sixth inning that there was still some fuel in the tank. He was throwing just as well in the seventh as he was earlier in the ballgame."
The left-hander has wins in each of his last two starts, and a 1.29 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 21 frames this season. Gohara also has not allowed a run his last 10 innings.
"Tonight was his best start of the year. He had a good feel for his breaking ball, he threw a very high percentage of strikes," Lewallyn said. "He threw his fastball on both sides of the plate and didn't have a great command of his changeup, but he also used it and showed it so they had to respect three pitches from him tonight."
Box score
The native of Brazil fired eight strikes on nine pitches thrown in his last inning. No. 10 Phillies prospect Cornelius Randolph singled on an 0-2 pitch, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Gohara then struck out Damek Tomscha and Jose Pujols on six pitches.
"That's a big part of player development, getting these guys out there later in the ballgame. At some point, you need to find out and this is a great opportunity," Lewallyn said.
The only sticky situation for Gohara came in the sixth when Emmanuel Marrero laced a one-out single before advancing on a wild pitch with Mark Laird at the plate. Marrero took third when Laird grounded out to second base, but Gohara induced a fly ball from Grenny Cumana to get out of the inning.
Gohara faced two batters over the minimum, and three of the five hitters to reach were eventually erased on the basepaths. The 210-pounder retired the side in order in the first, fourth and fifth, and notched five swinging strikeouts.
"He was getting a lot of swinging misses from his breaking ball and his fastball," Lewallyn said. "He threw enough changeups that they had to respect that pitch as well, so it was a combination. He was firing on all cylinders and it was fun to watch."
The only previous start in which Gohara went seven innings came Aug. 2 with Class A Clinton in the Mariners' organization. He allowed a run and two hits with five strikeouts against Kane County.
Friday's outing was the fourth start for the 20-year-old with the Braves organization. In January, Gohara was dealt to Atlanta from Seattle in the deal that sent outfielder Mallex Smith and right-hander Shae Simmons to the Mariners -- just hours before Smith and Minor Leaguers Carlos Vargas and Ryan Yarbrough, now the Rays' No. 24 prospect, were flipped to Tampa Bay for lefty Drew Smyly.
Lewallyn and the Fire Frogs staff only saw a brief sample of Gohara's ability prior to the season as he battled an illness in Spring Training.
"In the spring, he showed you flashes, but because of the bronchitis we kept his pitch count down and he went three innings a couple of times and I think he went four innings one time," Lewallyn said. "We had to be cautious and let him get his pitch count built up and that sort of thing, so it's been a little bit of a slow process."
Braves No. 12 prospect Austin Riley had two singles and scored a run, and Alex Jackson, the team's No. 23 prospect, singled and doubled for his third multi-hit performance in four games. Since going 0-for-4 on Opening Day, Jackson has reached base in 14 consecutive games and is hitting .339 over that span.
Gerard Gilberto is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter, @GerardGilberto4.
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