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Cats' McGuire strong in first win

Blue Jays right-hander yields just a hit over 6 2/3 innings
April 18, 2012
Deck McGuire can breathe a little easier now.

The Blue Jays' No. 10 prospect allowed one hit over 6 2/3 innings to earn his first win of the year as Double-A New Hampshire blanked Binghamton, 2-0, on Wednesday.

McGuire, who fanned three and walked three, faced four over the minimum for the Fisher Cats. He retired eight in a row at one point while picking up his first victory since Aug. 2, when he allowed three runs over six innings for the Fisher Cats.

"It's very nice to get that first win out of the way for sure," McGuire said with a sigh. "Really I just did a good job keeping my fastball down in the zone, working both sides of the plate and working my offspeed off my fastball."

The only hit the 22-year-old right-hander allowed came in the second inning when Juan Lagares doubled with one out. A fielding error by shortstop Ryan Goins allowed Travis Ozga to reach, putting runners on the corner with one away. McGuire recovered to strike out Josh Rodriguez and got Juan Centeno to ground out to end the threat.

"I was actually completely willing to trade that run for outs," McGuire said. "It was great to get out of there without giving up any, but it was definitely not the first thing on my mind."

McGuire had struggled through his first two starts, allowing 12 runs over 10 innings. Entering play Wednesday, Eastern League batters were hitting .409 against the former first-rounder, who attributed the struggle to overly relying on his secondary pitches.

"In the first two outings, I was real quick to go to the breaking ball," McGuire said. "Tonight I didn't do that. I got a couple of ground balls in big situations and I let my defense work."

McGuire outpitched Zack Wheeler, the Mets' top prospect, who allowed a run on three hits while fanning eight over six innings. Going up against Wheeler never entered McGuire's mind, who believed his offense would get the job done.

"I have complete and total faith in our hitters and I knew it my job was just to keep us in the game for however long I was out there," McGuire said. "Our guys are going to swing the bats, so it was just a matter of time before they scored."

Clint Everts took over for McGuire, allowing a hit and recorded four strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings. Ronald Uviedo pitched a hitless ninth for his fourth save for the defending Eastern League champions.

Goins contributed an RBI single, while Kevin Howard doubled home a run for the Fisher Cats. Mike McDade was 2-for-3 with a run to raise his average to .354.

Robert Emrich is a contributor to MLB.com.