Pirates' Taillon picks up first win

Considering how many runs the West Virginia Power have scored in his first three starts, Jameson Taillon has had pretty good timing. On Sunday, however, he noticed his own timing was slightly off.

After making a minor adjustment during his bullpen session, Taillon pitched five solid innings for his first win as a pro as the Power cruised to a 12-6 victory over the Class A Augusta GreenJackets.

The second overall pick in the 2010 Draft gave up a run on three hits and struck out five without issuing a walk.

"It's the first [win] since high school, really," Taillon said. "That feels good. It always feels good to get a win, especially in the last game of a series."

The Power might not have been able to secure a split of the four-game set had the 19-year-old right-hander not noticed during his bullpen session that he was leaving the ball up in the strike zone.

"It's a minor thing," Taillon explained. "It's something I've been working on with the coaching staff. It's a timing thing [in my delivery], when I break my hands. It helps get the ball down in the zone."

Taillon (1-0) capped a 1-2-3 first inning by striking out Ryan Scoma, then fanned Devin Harris to open the second. After Adam Duvall singled, Josh Mazzola was hit by a pitch and Rafael Rodriguez delivered an RBI single, but Taillon struck out Daniel Burkhart to limit the damage.

Starting with that punchout, the Texas native retired nine in a row, picking up another strikeout in the third and one more in the fourth. The streak ended when Burkhart lined a single up the middle, but Chris Lofton lined to left field to end Taillon's afternoon on a positive note.

Taillon, MLB.com's preseason No. 18 prospect, had his debut in the South Atlantic League limited to two innings due to rain on April 27. But the Power went on to post a 14-2 victory over Hagerstown.

In his last outing on May 2, Taillon struck out six over four shutout innings but did not figure in West Virginia's 3-0 blanking of Greensboro. The Power were back in double digits Sunday as 2010 New York-Penn League All-Star Matt Curry homered, doubled and drove in five runs.

"It makes it nice," Taillon said of the generous run support. "But it can create another task -- really staying focused. You've got to go out there and still pitch. I love to pitch with a lead and protecting it. I like to keep working fast, get ground balls and keep the defense active."