Kelly dazzles in debut with Chihuahuas

Michael Kelly's teammates assured him throughout his Triple-A debut Sunday that they had his back. Actually, they had his back-to-back-to-back.

The right-handed San Diego prospect scattered two hits and struck out three over six scoreless innings Sunday as El Paso topped Sacramento, 7-1, at Raley Field.

Kelly (1-0) admitted he felt the jitters as he pitched around a two-out single by Austin Slater in the first inning. His teammates helped take some of the pressure off in the second.

Catcher Austin Hedges started the scoring by launching River Cats starter Joan Gregorio's first pitch of the frame into the left-field stands. San Diego's No. 13 prospect Jabari Blash followed it up by taking a 2-2 pitch deep to left-center for his fifth Pacific Coast League blast. By the time Casey McElroy had gone yard to right, Kelly just considered himself thankful not to be on the receiving end of the barrage.

"It was incredible," the 23-year-old said. "The first one was an awesome hit and then the next one happened and sure enough the third one happened. It was awesome to see and it's awesome to be on the offensive side of that. When you're pitching and that happens it's a little bit tougher, but it's great when your guys do that for you."

By the time the inning came to a close, the Chihuahuas had built a 6-0 lead for Kelly, who used the momentum to find a rhythm with his fastball. The 48th overall pick in the 2011 Draft allowed just one hit over the final six frames, in which he retired the final 11 batters he faced.

"Me and Austin Hedges were able to get on the same page and really it was all about the defense," Kelly said. "They made a lot of great plays. Jabari in left made a great play. [Nick] Noonan had a great play at short, Casey made some good plays at third. I owe a lot to those guys for making those plays."

The Florida native posted a 2.55 ERA in seven starts for Double-A San Antonio after making his first six starts of the year with Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore. After learning of his promotion to El Paso on Saturday, he told himself not to change his approach.

"I was feeling good," Kelly said. "I came off a couple good starts in San Antonio, so I was just trying to continue that momentum here and be aggressive and go after the hitters and trust the defense."

The Florida high school product said his strong circuit debut should help ease the transition to facing PCL hitters.

"It's nice. It's comforting and it helps you relax a little bit," he said. "It's all about staying confident and being aggressive. It obviously helps getting a good start under your belt. It helps with remaining confident and continuing being aggressive."

Hedges also doubled and walked. Top Padres prospect Manuel Margot went 2-for-5 with his 18th stolen base.

Gregorio (1-4) surrendered six runs on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four over 1 2/3 frames for Sacramento.