Frederickson fires six hitless frames
Frederickson struck out a career-high 12 batters over six hitless innings and reliever Seth Lintz took the no-hit bid into the ninth before yielding a walk-off single to Mustangs designated hitter Danny Hernandez.
The one-out hit was Hernandez's second in 14 at-bats since joining the Mustangs on Aug. 1. Billings was outhit, 4-1, in the game.
A first-round pick by the Brewers in the 2008 Draft, Frederickson began the season as a reliever with Brevard County in the Class A Advanced Florida State League, but struggled with his command. He posted an 0-1 record with an 8.22 ERA and 28 walks in 15 1/3 innings over 12 outings.
Joining Helena in late June, the 6-foot-6 southpaw made four relief appearances before moving into the Brewers' starting rotation. He entered Wednesday's action with a 2-2 record and a 5.93 ERA with 28 strikeouts and 22 walks in 27 1/3 Pioneer League innings.
On Wednesday, however, Frederickson was utterly dominant.
"My fastball, curve and changeup were all working really well," the University of San Francisco product said.
Despite the career-high 12 strikeouts, Frederickson said he was actually trying less than usual to whiff batters. "I was just trying to make good pitches and get ahead in the count, not necessarily to strike everyone out," he said.
He set down the first nine batters he faced -- five via strikeouts. Billings second baseman Billy Hamilton drew a walk to lead off the fourth, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then moved to third when Frederickson threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt. Frederickson struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
"My catcher, Gerald Ogrinc, called a great game for me," he said. "And when [Hamilton] was on third in the fourth inning, I think he blocked three straight curveballs in the dirt. He really deserves half the credit."
The 23-year-old left-hander struck out the side in the fifth and worked around a two-out walk in the sixth.
The six frames matched Frederickson's longest outing as a pro. Though he issued just two free passes Wednesday, he took over the Pioneer League lead with 24 walks. He also paces the circuit with 11 wild pitches.
Lintz, a second-round pick in the 2008 Draft, entered in the seventh. The righty worked around walks in the seventh and eighth, but issued a leadoff base on balls in the ninth to Billings left fielder Dayne Read that would be Helena's undoing.
Read moved to second on Devin Lohman's sacrifice bunt, then scored on the Mustangs' lone hit of the game, a looping line drive to right by Hernandez.
Lintz fell to 0-3, allowing one run on one hit in 2 1/3 innings. He struck out two, walked three and induced five groundball outs.
The Mustangs staff, which has allowed the fewest runs in the Pioneer League, was nearly as dominant.
Starter Daniel Corcino gave up two hits and two walks while fanning eight over six frames. Reliever Pat Doyle yielded one hit in a scoreless seventh and Josh Smith (1-2) allowed one hit over two shutout innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.
The shutout loss was Helena's second of the season. The Brewers were blanked in Billings, 4-0, on July 1.
The two teams struck out a total of 26 times.
John Parker is a contributor to MLB.com.