Verrett fires blanks in Gnats' gem

Logan Verrett rediscovered his fastball location Tuesday. The Shorebirds couldn't.

The right-handed Mets prospect fanned seven and gave up six hits while going the distance as Class A Savannah blanked Delmarva, 2-0.

A third-round pick by New York in 2011, Verrett faced four over the minimum in the first complete game of his career. The Baylor University product ended the game in style, striking out the side in the ninth inning.

"Honestly at the beginning of the game, I was focused on locating my fastball," he said. "Last outing wasn't a great outing, so this week I tried to focus on locating the fastball. They were helping me out by swinging at them early. I was locating it a lot better, which is why they we were able to hit it right where we were.

"Later on, I broke out the breaking stuff and tried to mix it in and keep them guessing. My slider was on point and what was able to get the strikeouts."

The Texas native had lost his last two decisions and allowed 10 runs in his last two starts for the Sand Gnats. Verrett credited a renewed focus on his fastball location for the difference.

"Last outing was very rocky because of fastball location," he said. "This outing was all me, all fastball location and getting ahead of batters. Because of that, I was able to throw the breaking stuff because they weren't sitting on it."

Verrett, who thought he threw around 97 pitches, missed about six weeks with what he described as an "impingement" in the back of his shoulder. While the 22-year-old right-hander was disappointed to miss so much time in his debut season, he understood it's part of the game.

"Obviously it's frustrating, you just got to do it, it's part of the grind," Verrett said. "I'm sure 90 percent of the big leaguers have gone through this, where they missed time. I'd rather it be now, early in my career, rather than later in my career when I really need to be healthy every day. I was thankful for the Mets taking their time rehabbing me and making sure I was healthy."

Overall, Verrett is 3-2 with a 2.84 ERA and has fanned 52 batters in 50 2/3 innings this season. He called his first complete game "pretty exciting stuff."

"My catcher, Camden Maron, I can't give enough credit to him, he called an outstanding game," he said. "My left fielder [Dustin Lawley] made an outstanding catch, every play we could make we made. It was nice to see everyone bring that confidence to the field today and back me up."

Aderlin Rodriguez gave Verrett the lead with a two-run single in the eighth. Matt Reynolds, a second-round pick last month, was 2-for-3 with a run scored for Savannah.

Zachary Davies did not figure into the decision after scattering six hits and fanning six over seven shutout innings for the Shorebirds.