Whitecaps' Collier hurls four-hit shutout

Tom Collier was entering new territory Wednesday when he walked out to the mound to start the ninth inning.

"Mark Johnson asked me how I was feeling, and I told him I was feeling good," Collier said of his chat with West Michigan's pitching coach. "He knows I didn't have too many stressful pitches I had to deal with in the game and he said, 'Keep going.'"

Collier did, striking out the side in the ninth to wrap up his first career complete-game shutout, holding Class A Lake County to four hits in the Whitecaps' 1-0 win at Classic Park.

In an era in which young Minor Leaguers are on increasingly strict pitch counts and complete games are about as rare as knuckleballers, Collier got a chance to defy the odds.

"My pitch count was down and I allowed myself to trust my stuff, pitched to contact," he said. "The pitch count was really low. I think I was at 95."

Collier (3-4) fanned seven and walked one en route to the third nine-inning complete-game shutout in the Midwest League this season. He faced five batters over the minimum and did not allow an earned run for the fifth time in 11 starts.

"This is the first complete-game shutout in my professional career and I can't remember the last time I've actually thrown a nine-inning shutout," said Collier, a 2011 22nd-round Draft pick out of San Jacinto College North in Texas. "The main focus was pitching to contact, and when it gets that deep into the game one mistake could get you out of the game."

Although he'd never pitched past the seventh inning since making his debut with short-season Connecticut last summer, the 22-year-old right-hander said he felt great over the final two frames.

"Physically, I felt strong; mentally, it a was challenge to stay as focused as I was the whole game," he said. "I kept the focus up, made good pitches and [catcher Pat Leyland] called a great game for me. We were with each other on every pitch and had a nice rhythm the whole game."

Collier got off to a decent start in his first full season, then made four straight starts in which he did not give up an earned run. South Bend tagged him for five runs on May 19 and the Captains chased him after recording only four outs when they also scored five times last week.

Wednesday was different. Collier said he didn't rush himself on the mound.

"Today, slowing myself down was the main key, not getting ahead of myself and not being too quick to the plate when there's runners on base. That was the main focus," he explained. "Last time I got out ahead, I was trying to be too fine. I slowed myself. You need to trust your defense and your stuff."

Collier worked around a two-out single and a stolen base in the first, pitched a 1-2-3 second and struck out two straight to end the third. He was on cruise control until the seventh, when Lake County put runners at first and second with none out. Alex Monsalve tried to sacrifice but bunted into a forceout. Leonardo Castillo also forced a runner at third and Jordan Casas lined out to end the threat.

"They had runners first and second, one of their power hitters was up and first-pitch changeup, he bunted it hard back to me," Collier said. "The catcher said, 'Three!' We worked on that all Spring Training. My main thing was getting him out, so that was key for me. We got a ground ball [after that], but I was very fortunate that bunt was back at me."

That marked as far as Collier had ever gone. He held Fort Wayne to one hit over seven innings on May 4, winning a challenge among the Whitecaps pitching staff of being the first starter to last seven innings.

Collier fanned Luigi Rodriguez in a 1-2-3 eighth and showed no signs of fatigue in the ninth, striking out the side to seal his first win since April 28.

Steven Moya's RBI single in the sixth put Collier in line for the win.

Joe Colon (5-5) started for Lake County and took the hard-luck loss after allowing an unearned run on seven hits over six innings. Grant Sides struck out four over the final three innings for the Captains.

For Collier, the gem will be something to build off in five days.

"It's going to help a lot. It's definitely, mind-set-wise, allowed me to trust my stuff that much more and remind myself the defense is great behind me," he said. "I can trust myself and get ground balls when I need them, so that's a big-time confidence-booster after the last two starts I had."