Atlanta Braves Game Recap w/Morning Chop, Box: Pirates Prevail; White, Banuelos
Mar 13, 2015; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher
Manny Banuelos(64) throws against the New York Mets at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports
Atlanta Braves pitcher Manny Banuelos shines after shutout
CARROLL ROGERS WALTON / ALBANYHERALD.COM
Until Monday night at Gwinnett, left-hander Manny Banuelos had never pitched past the seventh inning in his professional career. So his wife, Yanely, can hardly be blamed for her surprise when he went out to pitch the eighth and her premature congratulatory text message after that inning was over.
Banuelos wasn’t finished yet. He used a 13-pitch ninth to complete the first nine-inning shutout of his career, on a two-hitter. He gave up a single in the sixth and a single in the seventh and never let a runner take second base. He nabbed the first base runner on his first pickoff of the year and the second one on a force play at second base.
“I don’t think I can be better than that,” Banuelos said. “I was pretty excited. The best thing was my body and my arm felt great, felt pretty strong.”
Pitching nine innings was another milestone in a promising season for Banuelos. He is 6-2 and leads the Triple-A International League in ERA at 2.03 in his second season back from Tommy John surgery.
Banuelos has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his past 10 starts and pitched more innings (79 2/3 innings) than all last season (76 2/3 innings) in the Yankees organization.
“I had a lot of issues with my arm last year,” Banuelos said. “It was bothering me every time I pitched, and the next four days, I felt a lot of soreness and tightness. This year it’s a lot different. My arm is healthy. (Monday) I threw 101 pitches. (Tuesday) I played catch, and it felt pretty good.”
[ Ed. note: again, much more available at the link above… and note the last paragraph in particular… highly recommended article from Walton. ]