DeSclafani dazzles in Double-A debut

It's been an exciting couple weeks for Marlins pitching prospect Anthony DeSclafani.

Just 11 days ago -- in what proved to be his final start for Class A Advanced Jupiter -- he struck out a career-high nine batters over six shutout innings. The following morning, he was named Florida State League Pitcher of the Week, and on Saturday, he pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the South at the circuit's All-Star Game.

Wednesday, he was called up to Jacksonville.

In his Double-A debut, DeSclafani allowed two hits while striking out five batters over six innings in the Jacksonville Suns' 2-0 win over the visiting Huntsville Stars on Thursday.

The 6-foot-2 right-hander allowed a first-inning double to Jason Rogers and a second-inning two-bagger to Mike Walker before setting down the final 13 batters he faced.

He turned a 2-0 lead over to the bullpen in the seventh after throwing 44 of 71 pitches for strikes. He did not walk a batter.

"I hadn't seen him pitch before," said Suns manager Andy Barkett. "I was very impressed with the way he pounded the strike zone. He kept the ball down and mixed his pitches well. Six scoreless innings ... not much else we can ask for."

The New Jersey native was 4-2 with a 1.67 ERA in 12 starts for Jupiter. Last year in Class A Lansing, the 23-year-old was 11-3 with a 3.37 ERA in 28 games, including 21 starts.

On Thursday, Arquimedes Caminero worked around a hit and a walk over two innings of relief and Grant Dayton struck out three batters in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.

Huntsville starter Ariel Pena (5-6) gave up two runs on five hits over six innings.