Green puts on a show for RiverDogs

A month before being acquired by the Yankees organization last summer, Nick Greenmade a proclamation that may summarize the climb through the Minor Leagues.
"Every year you have something to show," he said.

The right-hander did that on Saturday night for Class A Charleston, striking out a career-high nine and giving up one hit with no walks over eight innings. The RiverDogs, though, fell victim to a ninth-inning rally that sent Delmarva to a 4-3 win.
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"I just want to show my consistency and show my mental toughness, show my mental strength on the mound and show that I can beat any hitter out there," said Green, who has recorded at least seven strikeouts in three of his last four outings. "I just want to be confident and know that I'm confident in my abilities, and keep pushing as much as I can to be the best."
The Colorado native retired the first eight batters he faced Saturday before surrendering a single to Alejandro Juvier in third.

"I really wanted to go after these guys, I know they're pretty early swingers but I just wanted to make sure I pounded the zone early so they'd make contact," said the 22-year-old, who is in his first full season with the Yankees after being part of the deal at the Trade Deadline that sent Carlos Beltrán to Texas. "The guys behind me were great today, so that was the plan was just to be aggressive and attack."
Green twice posted eight strikeouts in a game, most recently on April 17 when he pitched five innings in the RiverDogs' 7-2 win over Augusta for his first victory of the season.
On Saturday, Green saw what he could accomplish when he's locked in.
"I felt really, really comfortable with all my pitches today. The fastball I was commanding really well in the zone. The curveball, I was throwing that exactly where it needed to be, and my changeup was a pitch that I utilize pretty well for the strikeouts," he said. "Just overall, I felt really confident in my pitches and I just threw every pitch with conviction and I was pretty excited on the mound and pretty amped up, so it felt great. "
Green also looked to his teammates and coaching staff to keep him grounded.
"I just tried to stay with exactly what I was doing. I didn't want to change my mindset any. I had Donny Sands and [pitching coach] Justin Pope in the dugout just keeping me calm and collected and having fun, so that's the biggest thing is just having fun with my teammates and my team," he said. "Popey and Donny know that, so everybody in the dugout was just keeping me really calm and collected."

Green retired the final 16 batters he faced before exiting.
"It felt really great. I'm just going to go out there every game, hoping for those eight innings," Green said. "Hopefully one of those times they'll help me out and we'll keep going."
Garrett Mundell ran into immediate trouble after replacing Green in the ninth, allowing three hits -- including a two-run double by Jake Ring -- to tie the game, 3-3, before recording an out.
Mundell got Chris Clare to bounce out to second and allow Ring to reach third before handing it off to Trevor Lane. He gave up a single to Collin Woody that drove in the go-ahead run.
Hoy Jun Park had a double among three hits and scored twice, while Brandon Wagner singled and drove in a pair of runs for the RiverDogs.