Nuts' Lopez turns in seven shutout innings

Pablo López has made some small tweaks that could help him turn the page for a big second half.
"I was working with my mechanics in the windup and in the stretch, and that showed up a little bit tonight," he said, noting that with the adjustment, "I got into a rhythm." 
The Mariners' 23rd-ranked prospect gave up three hits over seven innings, retiring 19 batters in a row in one stretch, in his first scoreless appearance of the season as Class A Advanced Modesto walked off with a 2-1, 10-inning victory over Visalia on Tuesday at John Thurman Field.

Gameday box score
"It was really a fun game. Playing with these guys can make you feel so confident and comfortable because you know they're going to make the right play at the right moment," he said of the Cal League first-half North Division champions.
"What really worked was my fastball command and I was keeping it down in the zone and trusting in my catcher, Joe DeCarlo. He did an amazing job back there calling the right pitches, blocking balls, everything. That builds your confidence on the mound." 

The 21-year-old right-hander struck out five without issuing a walk and faced one batter over the minimum. He's 3-7 with a 5.77 ERA in 15 games, including 14 starts, and had not gone as deep as the seventh.
"It kind of felt like I needed this," the Venezuela native said. "It was pretty sweet to celebrate with my teammates after the walk-off win and to know that whatever we set our mind to we can achieve. That's pretty sweet." 
After a surrendering a leadoff single to Matt McPhearson in the first, he got 15th-ranked D-backs prospectSergio Alcántara to fly out and Austin Byler to bounce into a double play. He followed with five 1-2-3 innings and started the seventh with back-to-back outs.
"I feel like everything was working -- the tempo of the game -- and I was executing pitches. It clicked from there," he said. "Whatever [DeCarlo] called, I threw, and I let my teammates do the rest."
Byler broke the string with a line drive single, which brought home for Lopez that he'd been perfect but for the one hit to that point.
"I did not realize until the hit in the seventh," he said. "It was like, 'Hey, I haven't pitched from the stretch in a while.' It was pretty funny, but I stayed focused. I kind of felt [manager Mitch Canham] would let me finish [the inning] because my pitch count was not outrageous. I felt they trust me enough to keep competing."
The next batter, Marty Herum, poked a grounder up the middle, but center fielder and Mariners No. 13 prospect Braden Bishop made a peg to third baseman Jordan Cowan to nail Byler and end the inning.
"I was super-excited," Lopez said. "I see the ball go through the middle and, 'Oh, it's another hit.' But then I see [Byler] running for third and I know [Bishop] has a really good arm and it's pretty accurate. I saw him throw it and [thought], "Yeah, he got him.' That was the play of the game."
The Rawhide tied it in the ninth, but Mariners No. 24 prospect Gianfranco Wawoe followed Chris Mariscal's leadoff triple in the 10th with a game-winning liner to left. Wawoe finished 2-for-5, boosting his average to .303. 
D-backs No. 19 prospect Cody Reed started for the Rawhide and scattered six hits and two walks while fanning six over six scoreless innings. He's 1-2 with a 2.88 ERA in six starts since a promotion from Class A Kane County, where he was 3-2 with a 1.74 ERA in eight starts.