Volcanoes' Reyes goes long into the night

Jose Reyes has had some tough luck on the mound so far this year, but he avoided the bad kind with a dominant performance Sunday.

For his third win in as many decisions, the right-handed San Francisco prospect hurled eight one-hit shutout innings in short-season Salem-Keizer's 6-1 victory over Boise.

"It was a very nice job of throwing the sinker in on the inner half off the plate and he challenged hitters with his fastball," said Volcanoes pitching coach Matt Yorkin. "It was a big step in his development."

Boise's Jason Vosler singled to center in the sixth for the only hit off Reyes, but Salem-Keizer quickly eliminated the runner by turning a 4-6-3 double play on a ground ball hit by Charles White.

"I was thinking about it," the coach said of the no-hit bid. "It was a high chopper over the mound and I think it was good to get the cat out of the bag."

Reyes hit Jeffrey Baez with a pitch, but returned to the dugout unscathed after inducing Rashad Crawford to ground out. The 23-year-old did not allow a baserunner to reach second until Danny Canela walked and advanced on a balk in the seventh.

Reyes notched five strikeouts in an outing that tied the longest start of his career. The 6-foot-1 hurler also went eight for the Dominican Summer League Giants on Aug. 3, 2011.

"I think he has had some tough luck early, he definitely deserves a better record than it shows," Yorkin said. "He keeps building on each start, and tonight was definitely his best start of the season."

Over eight outings in his second stint with Salem-Keizer, the Dominican Republic native is 3-3 with a 3.44 ERA. His 39 strikeouts rank him second on the Volcanoes staff, just one behind Andrew Leenhouts.

"He had some health issues, just some soreness last year, but he's definitely healthy this season and turning some heads," Yorkin said. "I think he's come a long way with his mental approach from [when] I had him last year. He's really trusting his ability to throw and he thinks he can get guys out in the zone.

"I think he's definitely matured and he's definitely our bulldog. He wants the ball, he wants to go out there."

The Volcanoes broke the stalemate in the sixth when Johneshwy Fargas was hit by a pitch, moved to second on Christian Arroyo's single, and scored when Will Callaway grounded into a double play. Salem-Keizer added some insurance in the seventh with RBIs from Shilo McCall, Fernando Pujadas, Fargas and Arroyo.

Boise's loss propelled Hillsboro -- who topped Eugene, 3-2, on Sunday -- to clinch the Northwest League South Division first-half title. The Hops are 20-15 and have won five of their last eight games.