Long allows one hit in bounceback outing

Coming into Thursday night's game, Nolan Long had never seen the sixth inning of a Minor League game from anywhere other than the dugout. That changed during a career-best start for the Dodgers' 16th-round pick in 2015.

The right-hander allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings, striking out seven and walking four Class A Great Lakes' 5-2 win over the Dayton Dragons. His previous longest outing was five innings with the Loons in his final start last season.

"I've never gone that deep into a game yet this year and it was definitely different," said Long. "You try and simplify it as much as you can. You try not to think about things like that and just keep getting guys out every inning."

After starting in four of his first five appearances this season, Long entered in relief of teammate Isaac Anderson in his last appearance on May 7. The 22-year-old had the worst outing of his Minor League career, allowing seven runs on six hits and three walks in just 1 2/3 innings, and he was motivated to put that performance behind him.

"I had a chip on my shoulder with an understatement this game," Long said. "That was a very low point of the season. It's still early, but that was a wakeup call for me. It was different piggybacking off Isaac, but that's honestly no excuse for not getting outs. From a pitching standpoint, you have to do your job. I was getting touched up like never before; they were on everything I had.

"It was tough to maintain confidence out there, I really stuck with my stuff -- I try not to get too down on the mound and keep the same body language if I have 20 strikeouts or am giving up 20 runs. That outing, they were all over me, and that woke something up in me that I need to go out there, give it my best and execute everything. It's good to get that monkey off my back."

His gem came a day after Long's teammate, left-hander Michael Boyle, allowed just two hits over seven innings in a 5-0 win over Fort Wayne. In addition to exorcising his own personal demons, the New London, Connecticut native was inspired by his teammate's performance.

"Boyle setting the momentum like that hyped me up for my next start," Long said. "He's a great friend of mine and watching him out there doing his thing set the tone for me. I definitely used that -- it's fun to watch your buddies be successful and you want to hop on that train and follow along."

The Wagner product said the relationship between the two pitchers and the rest of the team's pitching staff was an asset in his bounceback outing.

"He was the first guy to meet me in the dugout after I shook pitching coach Bobby Cuellar's hand," he said. "He was the first guy right behind me with a smile on his face. He knew I had it in me the whole time. After my bad start, he was right there along with the other pitchers to pick me up."

The close-knit nature of the Loons staff is a big part of their success this season. Great Lakes ranks third in the MIdwest League with a 2.94 team ERA.

"I think, as a staff, this is a very good group of young men, they pull for each other," Cuellar said. "With everybody involved, our trainers, our staff and everybody else, the goal is to do your work before you play and go play. That's basically what baseball is about."

Long had the added benefit of facing Dayton for the second time in a month, and he used that to his advantage after allowing three runs in 3 2/3 innings on April 20.

"It's definitely easier facing a team the second time around," he said. "You get to see all the hitters more than once. Our catchers keep a nice log of all the hitters and their strengths and weaknesses. It's good to have a more experienced approach."

Long's four walks represented another career high, but it's not something that worries the former college basketball player or his pitching coach in the long run.

"In college, I was coming off of basketball season and I had [the same] command issues," he said. "I threw every day in college, but not on a set throwing schedule. I know for a fact that the command will come around after I throw a lot more. I feel like I'm taking a step in the right direction after every start, it's just a matter of the work I'm putting in to make it happen as fast as possible."

Cuellar agrees and he thinks an increased focus on mechanics will benefit Long's command in the future.

"One of the biggest things that we talk about is trying to keep his body in line as long as he can to his target," the coach said. "That area where you want to drive yourself right toward home plate and not pull off, that's where he gets in trouble [with his] arm slot. He's working on it in his bullpens, and just like anything else in this world, he'll get there if he works at it enough. He's got this knack when he steps on the mound to be effective."

Great Lakes' Omar Estevez went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored while Ariel Sandoval finished 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and three runs.