Absence makes Jungmann throw better

Taylor Jungmann's time on the disabled list may have proven to be a blessing in disguise.

The Brewers' No. 2 prospect yielded four hits over six innings as Double-A Huntsville blanked Mississippi, 5-0, on Tuesday. The Texas native struck out two and walked four.

Jungmann (3-4) threw 50 of his 89 pitches for strikes and recorded nine ground-ball outs, including two double plays, for the Stars.

"I was just getting after guys," he said. "Trying to stay smooth and get a lot of first-pitch strikes and really attack guys."

Jungmann, who reached 93 mph on his fastball Tuesday, picked up his second straight win after spending a week on the disabled list at the beginning of May. According to the 23-year-old right-hander, he was on the DL for precautionary reasons due to some numbess he felt in his thumb.

"I think it's been a good thing for me to take a little breather and figure some things out," Jungmann said. "To be honest, it wasn't anything mechanical. The thing was, mentally I was going in with the mind-set of trying to be too fine.When you're trying to be too fine, your mechanics change."

It's evident that the break has helped the hurler. In his last start before being placed on the disabled list, the University of Texas product gave up eight runs over 2 2/3 innings against Mississippi on April 27. Since returning, Jungmann has allowed a run on eight hits over 12 innings for the Stars.

Despite walking four tonight and 19 in 33 2/3 innings, Jungmann isn't concerned about his control.

"In this game, the walks in the stat line look bad," he said. "But three of them were two-strike ones and me trying to strike a guy out. Tonight I had three double plays and that was a plus. [Walks are] not something I'm worried about, I've always been a strike thrower."

Greg Holle allowed two hits and struck out two over 1 2/3 innings and Thomas Keeling fanned two over 1 1/3 hitless frames of relief.

Brock Kjeldgaard slugged a two-run homer and Jason Rogers was 2-for-3 with two runs scored for the Stars.

Braves' No. 5 prospect Alex Wood (2-2) saw his streak of not allowing an earned run snapped at 33 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits over six innings.