MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

Crawford Out-Duels Diaz In Battle Of Prospects

Published on July 24, 2014 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


CLINTON, IA - Jonathon Crawford dealt six scoreless innings and the West Michigan Whitecaps took a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning before settling for a 5-1 win over the Clinton LumberKings on Thursday night at Ashford University Field.

West Michigan (20-12, 61-41) got the better of Clinton (13-19, 43-57) in a battle of top-flight pitching prospects that pitted Crawford against the LumberKings' Edwin Diaz. Both hurlers are considered their clubs' top prospects by Baseball America.

Crawford (6-2), the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 2013 draft, lived up to the hype with six dominant innings of two-hit baseball. He struck out five while allowing just two singles and two walks, erasing half of those baserunners with a pair of groundball double plays. Crawford threw just 66 pitches, 46 of which were strikes, and allowed only two runners to reach scoring position.

On the other hand, the Whitecaps' offense jumped all over Diaz in the top of the first inning.

Singles by Wynton Bernard and Javier Betancourt followed by a walk to Raph Rhymes loaded the bases with nobody out. Diaz countered by striking out Dominic Ficociello on three pitchers and got ahead of Jeff Holm with an 0-2 count, threatening to work around the jam.

But Holm battled to a full count before lashing a two-run single through the right side of the infield, and Grayson Greiner followed with a sacrifice fly to stake West Michigan to a 3-0 lead.

After a 28-pitch first inning, the 'Caps continued to attack Diaz before knocking him out of the game in the second. The key at-bat may have been a 12-pitch battle between Diaz and Bernard with one out in the top of the second. Though Bernard eventually struck out, Betancourt followed with a single up the middle to chase Diaz from the game.

Rhymes added an RBI-single to make it a 4-0 game, officially completing the starter's final line. Diaz (3-6) was charged with four runs on four hits after throwing 54 pitches in just 1.2 innings. The hard-throwing 20-year-old from Puerto Rico struck out two and walked two.

Rhymes contributed another run-scoring single in the seventh to stretch the lead to 5-0. Meanwhile, reliever Joe Mantiply followed Crawford's gem with two perfect frames and the Whitecaps went into the ninth inning with a two-hit shutout.

Clinton rallied late to make things interesting against Julio Felix, whose 23-inning scoreless streak - a franchise record for a relief pitcher - was snapped when the LumberKings plated one run on three hits in the final frame. But, with the bases loaded and the potential game-tying run at the plate, Felix struck out Brett Thomas to clinch the victory.

The Whitecaps are in the midst of a six-game road trip that continues on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET against the Clinton LumberKings. RHP Buck Farmer (9-5, 2.74) is scheduled to pitch for West Michigan against RHP Jose Flores (3-1, 4.08) of Clinton. The next home game at Fifth Third Ballpark will be at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 29, featuring 10-cent hot dogs, entertainment from the ZOOperstars and the Van Andel Institute's Purple Night. Season, group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps' front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.

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Midwest League Stories from July 24, 2014


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