Blaze Utilize Ace Card in San Jose to Avoid Sweep
His demeanor said it all during the most critical point in a 2-0 game. After giving up a bloop single in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, Bakersfield Blaze Manager Eddie Menchaca made a slow walk to the mound in order to chat with Zack Littell.
Menchaca wanted to see how his starting pitcher was feeling, but Littell's look and choice words made the decision an easy one for his manager.
In the end, the move to leave Littell in paid huge dividends for both parties.
Littell threw eight innings of shutout ball as he bested Phil Bickford in a primetime pitcher's duel that saw the Blaze beat the San Jose Giants, 2-1.
Tyler Marlette slugged his 13th home run of the season, a 2-run blast off of Bickford in the sixth inning, to give the Blaze their first and only lead of the series. While the offense was in limbo for both teams, the pitching was right on point.
Bickford and Littell are two talents fans of minor league baseball need to keep their eyes on.
Bickford, a 1st round draft selection ('15) of the San Francisco Giants, continues to live up to the hype and worthiness of a $2.3 million signing bonus out of college.
The right-hander has posted some stellar numbers up to this point with the Giants as he currently owns a 2.73 ERA, strikeout to walk ratio at 3:1, and opponents are only hitting .186 against him.
Littell on the other hand is an 11th round pick ('13) of the Seattle Mariners that is simply looking to crash any party he hasn't been invited to.
The North Carolina native has been everything Bickford is and then some.
With the win Littell improved his record to 4-0 and that goes with a jaw-dropping 0.84 ERA, 25 K's, 3 BB, and the opponents batting average against is a lowly .184. Gaudy numbers through five starts, but the 20-year old has plenty of gas in the tank and confidence to go with it.
With the 7-game road trip over, the Blaze return home for a 4-game set with the Lancaster JetHawks on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30pm with Dan Besbris on the call courtesy of TuneIn Radio and BakersfieldBlaze.com.