Rawhide's Weller strikes out 16 in win

Blayne Weller knew he'd piled up a lot of strikeout victims heading into his last inning of work Thursday night, but he was surprised to find out exactly how many.

"Going into the eighth, I overheard a fan behind me say I had 13," the D-backs right-hander said. "You kind of go, 'Geez,' because you don't realize it's that much. Once you hear that number from somebody, it's like 'Here we go.'"

Weller struck out the side in that final inning for a career-high 16 punchouts. He allowed two runs on six hits and a walk over eight frames in Class A Advanced Visalia's 6-5 win over visiting Modesto. It was Weller's third start in the California League.

The 24-year-old righty fanned 12 over a nine-inning no-hitter on July 10 in his last start for Class A South Bend before being promoted. In that game, Weller had set a career high in strikeouts for affiliated ball. He pitched in an independent league for 2012 and parts of 2013 and recalled striking out 14 in a game there, but he couldn't remember ever fanning as many as 16.

"It's a great feeling," Weller said. "Obviously, you don't really feel it while you're out there pitching, because you're focused on getting outs any way you can. The strikeout happened to be the way I was getting them tonight."

But things weren't coming easy to Weller (2-0) in the game's opening frames.

"The curveball saved the day from the first inning through the third," said the native of Key West, Florida. "I don't have a feel for my fastball down in the zone early in the game at the moment, so I went to my curveball. I just so happened to be throwing strikes really well with it."

When Weller did go to his fastball early in the game, he got dinged. After issuing his only free pass of the game to leadoff hitter David Dahl, Nuts' No. 2 hitter Patrick Valaika doubled off Weller in the first.

He struck out the next three, but was back into trouble the next frame when he gave up back-to-back two-out doubles to Juan Ciriaco and Alex San Juan. San Juan's two-bagger scored Ciriaco to put the Nuts on the board.

"The guy's a good hitter," Weller said. "He squared up on it and put it where he wanted it to."

The Rawhide had scored three runs in the bottom of the first, and having a lead helped Weller lock in and strand San Juan.

"It helps you with confidence," he said. "But in your head, it's more like, 'You better buckle down. These guys are fighting for you.' That makes you want to get out there and do your job."

He worked around another double -- a one-out knock to right by Michael Tauchman -- in the third and retired seven in a row after that. By then, he felt fully in control and didn't feel he had to lean so much on his curveball.

"I fell into a groove and got my feet underneath me. Everything was going the way I wanted and it was all clicking together," Weller said. "I had my fastball then."

He struck out the side in the sixth and fanned two in the seventh before surrendering a home run to Colorado's No. 3 prospect Dahl in the eighth.

"I left that one fastball up and he hit a home run," Weller said. "They're going to hit home runs. That's part of the reality. I didn't change anything. It's only one run, so I was kind of, 'OK, let's get back in there.'"

After shrugging off the big fly and getting three more punchouts, he was satisfied with his night's work.

"It's tiring," he said of the big strikeout total. "It definitely boosts your confidence. It's something you know you're going to do eventually -- maybe not that -- but have a good start."

Rudy Flores was 3-for-4 with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored for the Rawhide, and Brandon Drury, Arizona's No. 6 prospect, was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

San Juan hit a three-run homer for the Nuts in the ninth. He went 2-for-4 with four RBIs on the night.