Boyles stays grounded in return to Dragons

The Florida State League taught Ty Boyles a tough lesson, but the Reds southpaw seems to be learning from the mistakes he made in his return to the Midwest League.
"There are some stadiums in the Florida State League where if you leave the ball up, you're really going to get hurt," Boyles said. "So transitioning from how I was pitching there to pitching back here, it just helped me to keep the ball down and trust myself that much more."
The 2013 11th-rounder tossed a complete-game three-hitter as Class A Dayton ended West Michigan's 10-game winning streak with a 6-0 victory at Fifth Third Ballpark. Boyles (4-2) induced 11 groundouts, striking out four and walking two in his first career shutout.

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"I had a little bit of everything working," he said. "I was just mixing up inside and outside with my fastball, and had my changeup working, so I was keeping guys off balance. Also mixing in a couple of breaking balls here and there, just to get them looking at a different pitch."
The 21-year-old gave up a single to Tigers No. 25 prospectDaniel Pinero in the second inning and Sam Machonis in the third, but held the second-best hitting lineup in the Midwest League in check for the most part by relying on his defense.
"That was my third outing against them, so I kind of knew a couple of the guys," Boyles said. "I just went out and attacked them and tried to make them get themselves out. The guys played very well behind me tonight, so I was just throwing it toward the zone and see where they hit it. They ended up going right to my guys."
After Austin Athmann reached on a fielding error by shortstop Hector Vargas in the fourth, the Quartz Hill, California native induced a double play, then went on to retire 13 of the next 15 he faced through the eighth. He also walked Chad Sedio to start the fifth and Danny Woodrow with two outs in the eighth.
"I was getting a little bit tired, but I've thrown a lot of pitches in previous outings, so I was able to keep my composure and everything and kind of use my energy the way I want to use it," Boyles said.

He saved some of his best for last, fanning Detroit's No. 20 prospect Zac Shepherd and Athmann to start the ninth.
"I was just trying to get through those last couple of outs because I knew my pitch count was getting up there, so I was just trying to get a little extra there to help me out. It ended up working out in my favor," said Boyles, who gave up a single to Cole Bauml before getting Pinero to line out softly to third to end the game.
The outing lowered his ERA to 4.08 through eight starts since returning to the Dragons. Boyles went 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA through seven starts for Class A Advanced Daytona to open the season.
"It was just a different atmosphere," he said. "Obviously, the competition level is different. The hitters up there are different than the hitters down here, so you've got to make adjustments. But at the same time, you're facing people who know how to hit. That's their job. So you've got to go right at them and can't really try to be too fine."
After posting a 4.81 ERA through 24 appearances last season with Dayton, Boyles looked forward to the opportunity to regain his footing with some familiar faces.
"I came back down to a team where everyone is meshing well," he said. "I have a great group of guys behind me, so I knew I can just go out there and do my thing and they would have my back. It wasn't a big adjustment. I just have to go out there, do my job and let everything happen."

Results like Wednesday's serve as encouraging signs for Boyles.
"It's definitely a confidence-booster," he said. "I've had a couple of rough outings this year, so getting this under my belt, just knowing what I can do, especially since it was against a first-place team, I can just take this into the next one and just keep working from here."
The complete-game shutout marked the second of the season for the Dragons after Ryan Olsontopped Great Lakes on April 14.
Sixth-ranked Reds prospectTyler Stephenson opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first and John Sansone added a solo shot in the fifth.