Pelicans' Torrez tosses three-hitter

A minor mechanical adjustment was all that Daury Torrez needed to turn back into the dominant pitcher he was last season.

The Cubs' 22nd-ranked prospect allowed three hits over seven innings Sunday and was credited with a complete-game shutout when Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach posted a rain-shortened 12-0 romp over Carolina at Five County Stadium.

Torrez (6-5) has allowed two runs in his last three starts since Winston-Salem reached him for six runs on 13 hits over five frames on June 15. Pelicans pitching coach David Rosario said he and the right-hander spent some time ironing out a mechanical issue after that outing.

"He was swinging a lot with his upper half, pulling off with his lower half and pulling up with the right elbow," Rosario explained, "which creates some flat movement and did not allow him to stay on top of the ball and create good quality and angle on his pitches. For the last few weeks, we started working on some mechanical drills that would allow him to stay through the pitches to be more on top of the ball, creating good sinking action on his pitches. That is one of the biggest tools he has."

The adjustment worked well on Sunday as the 22-year-old needed only 76 pitches to match his longest outing of the season. He had good command and created good movement, Rosario said.

"He was able to locate pitches that he wanted to," the pitching coach added. "One big thing about today is that he was able to make some really good pitches inside to right-handed hitters that allowed him to expand and locate away. And he continually did that through the course of the game effectively."

Torrez was preparing to come back and and become the first Myrtle Beach starter to go more than seven innings this season. But the game was called after a 30-minute delay. The native of the Dominican Republic posted his third career complete game and Carolina League-leading second this season.

"We were looking at least for one more [inning]," Rosario said. "He was ready to come back out on the field when the rain came down. We were looking more for eight innings, simply because the game was prolonged. We had some long innings offensively, so he was spending a lot of time in the dugout. So because of that, we decided to go a little bit shorter. He definitely was going at least eight but no doubt he could have gone nine innings today."

Torrez dropped his ERA to 3.80, down from 4.64 since the six-run outing against Winston-Salem. The undrafted free agent has issued only 13 walks over 83 innings this season and is averaging slightly more than one walk per nine innings since signing with the Cubs in December 2010.

Despite Torrez's hot streak, his pitching coach feels there are still improvements to be made, particularly on the mental side.

"He needs to focus on concentration," Rosario said. "He knows what the issues are, the mechanical issues that he has. The biggest part for him is being able to stay focused, dealing with adversity. A lot of young guys are good at pitching but struggle when they go through adversity. But you still have to make quality pitches, and that's part of the growing process.

"We're talking about a kid that has great stuff and is aggressive, he's got a good frame and good ability, but sometimes being too aggressive forces him to pull off and start making flat throws. It's one of those things that takes time and repetition."

Cubs No. 16 prospect Victor Caratini slugged a solo homer just before the rain delay, while No. 15 prospect Mark Zagunis drove in three runs and scored twice for Myrtle Beach.

Mudcats starter Lucas Sims (2-4), the Braves' third-ranked prospect, surrendered six runs on three hits and three walks over three innings as his ERA climbed to 6.46.