51s Rely on Super Pill to Knock Out the Chihuahua's

Las Vegas 51s @ El Paso Chihuahuas

May 11, 2015

Tyler Pill @ Chris Smith

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Las Vegas	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0		3	6	0
El Paso	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	3	1

W: Pill (1-0, 6.43 ERA); L: Rearick (0-1, 7.20 ERA); S: Rice (1, 0.90 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Tyler Pill – 7 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 8 SO, 98 Pitches (66 Strikes), 5 GO: 1 FO

John Church (H, 4, 3.86 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 GO

Scott Rice – 1 IP, 2 BB, SO, 1 GO: 1 FO

Batters

Darrell Ceciliani – 3-4

Eric Campbell – 1-2, R, 2B (3), 2 BB, SO

Brooks Conrad – 1-3, R, 2B (3), 2 RBI (12), BB, SO

Dan Rohlfing – 1-4, 2 SO

Recap

            Tyler Pill gave his best AAA effort yet, and the 51s earned a split in the finale against El Paso. The Chihuahua’s had 4 base runners reach in the first two innings, but then Pill set down the final 16 batters he’d face in the game, with 7 of his strikeouts during that span – that is a seriously impressive stretch. Despite his great outing, Pill was losing 1-0 for most of the start, as Darrell Ceciliani was the only Las Vegas player finding success against El Paso starter Chris Smith. But the 51s would break through for 3 in the 7^th, with Pill providing a sac fly for the insurance run. John Church kept his strong run going with a perfect 8^th, and then Scott Rice held on for his first save in the 9^th, although not before making things interesting. After retiring the first two, Rice threw 8 of his next 9 pitches out of the zone, which prompted a visit from Frank Viola. After the visit, Rice would make quick work of Brett Wallace to end the game.

            The 51s head home for four against Sacramento, with their starter for Tuesday night’s game not yet announced.

Scoring Highlights

            Darrell Ceciliani has been very hot lately, and his three hits Monday raised his season average to .337. He hit a one out single in the 1^st, a two out single in the 3^rd, and a one out single in the 6^th.

            Eric Campbell lined a double to CF leading off the 2^nd, but he’d be stranded at 3B.

            Brooks Conrad came through with the big hit in the 7^th, picking up a two-run double to bring home Eric Campbell and Brandon Allen, who had both walked in the frame. Conrad would come home to score on a sac fly off the bat of Tyler Pill.

Bonus

Pill Coverage

            Tyler Pill was really fun to watch tonight, because you didn’t know whether he was going to drop in a fastball, changeup, or curveball. If he had a few more miles on his fastball, he’d garner some attention from Mets fans, but because he sit 89-91 MPH, and his secondaries are generally reported as average-at-best, Pill goes relatively unnoticed. I’ve been a Pill supporter around these parts for the past year because I think he has good control of his entire repertoire (fastball, changeup, slider, curveball, possibly a cutter), and that his curveball and changeup are better than reported – something had to help him strike out 25% of 464 batters faced over his final 19 starts last year. His ultimate upside is at the back of a major league rotation, which is unlikely to happen with the Mets, though he could be a useful spot starter for them. Pill is also a good fielder, and a very good hitter for a pitcher – he played 1B in college.

            On the night, only 5 balls reached the outfield against Pill, and three of those came against the first six batters of the game. Pill reached a 3-ball count against two batters: the walk in the 2^nd, and the last batter he faced in the 7^th.

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