De La Cruz rebounds with sparkling outing

For Oscar De La Cruz, the third time's the charm. 
After struggling in his first two Southern League starts, the Cubs No. 3 prospect allowed one hit over six scoreless innings in Double-A Tennessee's 5-1 win over Montgomery at Riverwalk Stadium. De La Cruz struck out six and walked one.

Gameday box score
"Oscar's been working on a lot of stuff trying to get better," Smokies pitching coach Terry Clark said. "It all kind of clicked for him. Fastball command was good inside and outside. He threw his curveball for strikes tonight, which was a big plus." 
With one out in the first inning, Dalton Kelly reached on a fielding error by second baseman Trent Giambrone. But Kelly was quickly erased when catcher Erick Castillo threw him out trying to steal second.
After hitting Brett Sullivan with one out in the fourth, De La Cruz retired the final eight batters he faced, picking up four of his strikeouts over that span.
"I think he realized that 'OK, I got it going tonight and I can relax a little,'" Clark said. "He actually even started throwing harder as the game went on. That just showed me that he got into a really good groove and felt comfortable for the first time in Double-A, so it was good to see." 

In those final at-bats, Clark said, De La Cruz's fastball velocity was still in his typical 94-mph range. The coach hopes the 2015 Northwest League Postseason All-Star can tick up into the 97-mph range by midseason. 
De La Cruz faced 21 batters and threw 15 first-pitch strikes. With the directive from Clark to throw in the red zone, he did just that -- 52 of his 82 pitches went for strikes.
In his first two starts of the year, the Dominican Republic native allowed 11 earned runs while striking out only four over six innings. He lasted two frames against Jackson his last time out, throwing 64 pitches. The right-hander has looked sharp in all of his side sessions this season, Clark said, so it was time for him to translate his effectiveness into a game.
"We've been talking a lot about staying through his pitches and finishing his pitches," Clark said. "I think he's finally starting to get a little bit of a feel for it. Going on the side this week, just repeating what he did tonight and what he's done the last three sides. If he can do that, I think he'll start to realize it's really going to start clicking for him. He can dominate this league if he gets in a good groove and starts to feel more and more comfortable that he belongs here." 
One of the biggest developments of the evening, other than a more relaxed delivery, was his curveball's sharpness. Clark and his pupil have been searching for the proper angle for the pitch. De La Cruz used to throw a good 12-6 curve, in Clark's opinion, but in an effort to get more called strikes at the higher levels of the game, he and Clark have added more side-to-side action on the pitch so it has a chance to stay in the zone.
"It gives him a chance to throw it for strikes more," Clark said. "He commands the fastball well on the sides and he commanded it well tonight. When he throws up and in, you know it. He puts some fear in [opposing hitters]. He's a big kid on that mound."

The pitch that stuck out most to Clark was a 3-2 curve to Daniel De La Calle, who could only flail at the offering, with one out in the fifth. 
"To have that confidence to throw it 3-2 and throw it for a strike, that makes me smile," Clark said. "It makes him smile. It makes everybody smile." 
For an encore, the 6-foot-4, 200-pounder painted the inside corner to get Thomas Milone looking to end the fifth.
Zack Short, Chicago's 22nd-ranked prospect, belted an RBI double for the Smokies. 
Rays No. 12 prospectNick Solak got the Biscuits on the board with an RBI single.