Baltimore Orioles Pitcher on Rehab Assignment Tosses Five Scoreless and Strikes Out Seven
FREDERICK, MD – Donning a Frederick Keys uniform, Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Jason Hammel guided the Keys to a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Mudcats in front of 6,962 fans at Harry Grove Stadium.
Hammel pitched five innings, giving up no runs while striking out seven and walking none. The tall right-handed pitcher only gave up three hits as he was credited with the win in his lone rehab start with Frederick.
Hammel, who holds a 3.54 ERA with Baltimore, was placed on the disabled list after he underwent arthroscopic right knee surgery on July 15th to remove loose cartilage.
Also, Brandon Erbe, who entered the game as the Keys’ all-time leader in strikeouts, innings pitched, games started and third all-time in wins, pitched his 300th inning, becoming the only Key in their 24-year history to get over the 300 mark.
The victory pushes Frederick to 33-34 in the second half of the year while the Mudcats slip to 31-37.
The Keys jumped out to an early 2-0 in the first and after adding three runs in the fifth, were able to cruise to victory thanks to the pitching of Hammel, Matt Bischoff, and Erbe.
The Keys innocently took a two run lead on a simple ground ball. With the bases loaded and one away, Allan de San Miguel grounded a pitch deep to the hole at short to Ronny Rodriguez. He threw to second for the force out, but second baseman Todd Hankins in an attempt to turn a double play, wildly overthrew the first baseman, allowing a second run to score.
In the fifth, the Keys tacked on three more runs to lead 5-0. With runners on first and second, Jeremy Nowak laced a pitch up the middle for the inning’s first run. A single from Allan de San Miguel brought home another run, putting Frederick up by four.
With runners on the corners and one out, the Keys attempted the double steal and it worked. De San Miguel took off for second base, and the runner on third, Nowak, headed for home. The throw to second was cut off and while the throw to home was on time to gun down Nowak, the ball was jarred loose on Nowak’s hard slide to the plate.
The action-packed play allowed the Keys to lead 5-0 and they never looked back from there.
The Keys will try and win three in a row tomorrow night as RHP Tyler Wilson (7-7, 3.72 ERA) takes the mound against RHP Michael Goodnight (2-13, 4.75 ERA).
First pitch is scheduled for 6 PM and live coverage starts at 5:40 PM on 1450-AM The Source and online at WTHU.org.
