Kernels' Cabezas twirls one-hit shutout
Andrew Cabezas grew up outside Miami. He went to The U. Last season, after being taken in the 18th round of the Draft, he played Rookie ball in Tennessee. He never knew cold -- certainly not that of Iowa in early April -- and although he said he's not one
"It was just a roller coaster," he said. "I sat down with myself and I said, 'You're better than this.' To me, baseball is all I want to do. It's life and death for me. 'Figure it out now or the chances of you reaching your goals is not going to be obtainable.'"
Cabezas began to treat each start like it could be his last. It's shown.
On Saturday, he tossed a one-hitter for his first career complete game as Cedar Rapids blanked Quad Cities, 3-0, at Modern Woodmen Park. The right-hander struck out seven, walked one and lowered his ERA to 3.53. He's allowed two earned runs over his last five starts, pitching to a 0.61 ERA in that span.
It was the second time Cabezas (3-5) dominated Quad Cities this season. He faced the River Bandits on May 15 and allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings; with nine strikeouts and no walks in that gem, he's fanned 16 over 16 innings of two-hit ball against them.
Gameday box score
Half of the lineup in that game differed from the one he faced Saturday, so Cabezas did everything he could to throw off the opposition. At times, he quick-pitched. His delivery featured irregular hitches, pauses and double clutches -- but not on every offering.
Cabezas began to experiment with the tactic last season as a way to throw off hitters' timing. There was a lot of trial and error in the initial stages, he said, but it has become an effective weapon this year. His college coaches never gave full approval. The Twins, though, are on board as long as the gimmicks don't hinder his ability to throw strikes.
"No matter what delivery I do," Cabezas said, "I still have to execute my pitch."
The Twins prospect retired the River Bandits in order without striking out a batter the first time through. He lost his bid at perfection by hitting
The 22-year-old came back out for the sixth with a three-run lead, thanks to
The chance at a milestone ended when
"If I start worrying about me losing a no-hitter, then I'm going to lose a shutout," he said. "I'm just using a pitch-by-pitch mentality. Just erase that and I just kept on going."
For a moment, he seemed to fade. He threw two balls to Rodriguez before the third caught the left-fielder on the foot. The first three pitches to two-hole hitter
"I've always said," Cabezas later joked, "if you want to clean up your mess, you have to do it yourself."
Joe Bloss is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @jtbloss.