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Generals' Carraway seats 20 straight

Unheralded Mariners prospect makes mark in vaunted rotation
April 11, 2012
Andrew Carraway looks on outings like Tuesday night's as learning opportunities, but not just for himself.

Carraway allowed a run on two hits over seven innings and retired 20 straight batters as Jackson defeated Tennessee, 5-1.

Carraway, who struck out four, got in and out of trouble early. The 25-year-old right-hander gave up a leadoff homer to James Adduci and an one-out double to Jae-Hoon Ha in the first inning before settling in. The Smokies did not get another baserunner until Logan Watkins walked with two outs in the ninth against Brian Moran.

"I didn't even realize that [I had retired 20 in a row] until I got in the dugout," Carraway said. "I felt good tonight. I felt like my catcher [Ralph Henriquez] and I were on the same page. We talked about mixing pitches more after the second inning, and we were able to do that from that point on. I have to give a lot of credit to him."

Carraway (2-0) is off to a hot start in 2012, having yielded one run on four hits over 13 innings. Despite that, his name is likely to be the least recognized as part of a highly touted Generals' rotation that features Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker and James Paxton, three of the Mariners' top five prospects. Selected in the 12th round in 2009, Carraway thinks his starts serve as talking points for him with the young trio, none of whom have more than a year of pro experience.

"They're newer to pro baseball than I am, and with an outing like this, I feel like I can talk to them about what I did," the Georgia native said. "Being able to see things and sit in on meetings, maybe I can pass things along."

Carraway and Hultzen, the club's first-round pick last June, have a history together, having pitched together at the University of Virginia in 2009. Carraway spent the Draft rooting for a reunion with his fellow Cavalier alum.

"Virginia had such a good team that I was hoping that (Hultzen) and others would be drafted by the Mariners," he said.

Nick Franklin, Seattle's No. 4 prospect, singled to extend his hitting streak to six games for Jackson.

Robert Emrich is a contributor to MLB.com.