Texan Taylor allows 1 run in first start

But that was enough for a loss as the Scrappers did not score.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

NILES — Scrappers pitcher Heath Taylor grew up in Texas, went to school at the University of Oklahoma, played summer baseball in Canada and has seen a lot of the country along the way.

But until he was drafted by the Indians, he’d never been to Ohio.

“This is the farthest east I’ve been,” said Taylor, who’s felt some familiar weather with the area’s recent humidity. “It’s better to be up here now with all the flooding [in Texas], so I can’t complain [about the humidity].”

Taylor, a 10th round pick in this month’s draft, made his first professional start Wednesday night, giving up one run in three innings as Mahoning Valley lost to Auburn, 5-0, in front of 2,308 fans at Eastwood Field.

He went 9-3 with a 3.57 ERA — both team bests — this spring with the Sooners but hasn’t pitched in weeks. He arrived late in Niles and didn’t see action in the first eight games.

Another delay

Then, as he prepared to play catch before Wednesday’s game, a rain delay pushed his start back another 40 minutes.

Taylor received the loss, giving up three hits and striking out two before a fixed pitch count ended his night early.

“He did a good job,” Scrappers manager Tim Laker said. “He was going pretty good. I think he could have gone a few more innings.”

Unfortunately for Taylor, Auburn pitcher Brett Cecil was even better. The Blue Jays’ first-round pick gave up just one hit in four innings, striking out five.

“I think he’s [Cecil] the best I’ve seen so far this year,” Laker said. “He’s got good life on his fastball and he kept it down in the zone.

“We had a tough time hitting him.”

Change of scenery

Taylor said he didn’t even notice Cecil’s pitching, focusing instead on his own outing. Pitching, of course, was the easy part of the past two weeks (he’s also thrown a couple bullpen sessions). Adjusting to his new surroundings was a different kind of challenge.

“The first few days I just tried to settle in,” he said. “It’s a whole new ball team with new teammates. I just tried to get comfortable with the guys.

“Sometimes on the mound you make your best friends.”

Taylor’s ability isn’t the only thing that sticks out about him. As a Bowie, Texas, native, he has a pretty distinctive accent.

So far, he hasn’t gotten much grief about it.

“Not yet,” he said. “But everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve heard about it.”

Limited hits

Wednesday’s game was a good example of how unpredictable short season Class A baseball can be. One night after compiling 19 hits and 14 runs against the Doubledays (5-4), the Scrappers (5-4) managed just five hits, all of them singles.

And with a six-game homestand complete, the Scrappers now will play six straight on the road, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Laker said.

“The guys will have short days and they’ll just be thinking about baseball and focusing on the games,” he said.

Joe Wice (1-0) pitched three shutout innings, striking out three and giving up three hits and a walk, to get the win for the Doubledays. Ronald Lowe pitched the final two innings, giving up one hit, to get his third save of the season.

Juan Valdes, Nick Petrucci, Matt Brown, Mark Thompson and Osiel Flores each singled for Mahoning Valley.

James Brettl pitched two innings of relief, giving up one run, Kyle Collina pitched a shutout inning and Alan Bresch gave up one run in 12⁄3 innings. Vincent Pestano pitched the final 11⁄3 innings, surrendering a two-run homer to Manuel Rodriguez in the ninth.

scalzo@vindy.com

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AUBURNSCRAPPERS

abrhbiabrhbi

Emaus 2b3000White cf3000

Stone 2b2010Infante 2b4000

Zeskind lf5130Valdes lf4010

Franko dh4011Martin 1b4000

Rodriguez 1b5112Petrucci 3b4010

Scobee rf5110Brown rf3010

Arencibia c4021Jenkins dh4000

Santana cf4000Thompson ss3010

Swppnhsr 3b4010Flores c3010

Sanchez ss3210

Totals395114Totals32050

Auburn010010102—5

Scrappers000000000—0

E—Petrucci (4), Sweppenhiser (1). DP—Auburn 1. LOB—Auburn 9, Scrappers 7. 2B—Arencibia (1). HR—Rodriguez (2).

IPHRERBBSO

Auburn

Cecil410005

Wice W, 1-0330013

Lowe S, 3210001

Scrappers

Taylor, L, 0-1331102

Bretti231112

Collina100002

Brech1 2-321011

Pestano1 1-332201

Wice pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. HBP—by Cecil (White). Umpires—Home, Tyler Wilson; Bases, Ben Karis. T—2:50. A—2,308.

HOW THEY SCORED

Doubledays 2nd — Scobee singles to left. J.P. Arencibia doubled to center, Scobee scores. Santana flies out (F-9). Sweppenhiser flies out (F-7). Sanchez strikes out looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Doubledays 5th — Sweppenhiser flies out (F-9). Sanchez walks. Emaus flies out (F-7). Eskind singles to center, Sanchez to 2nd. Franco singles to center, Sanchez scores, Eskind to 3rd. Rodriguez lines out (F-4). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Doubledays 7th — Sweppenhiser flies out (F-8). Sanchez singles to center. Stone singles to center, Sanchez to 2nd. Eskind reaches on throwing error (E-5), Sanchez scores, Stone to 3rd. Franco walks. Rodriguez strikes out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.

Doubledays 9th — Stone grounds out (6-3). Eskind singles to right. Franco grounds out (1-3). Rodriguez homers to right. Scobee pops out (F-4). 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.