Dash's Leyer allows one hit in six innings

Robinson Leyer has bought into the plan, and the results showed on Friday night.

The White Sox prospect allowed one hit over six dominant innings but lost a chance at his first win since last summer as Class A Advanced Salem rallied in the 11th inning to overcome Leyer and Winston-Salem, 6-3.

"He was real good, he had great angle with his fastball and he had a real good slider with depth," Dash pitching coach J.R. Perdew said. "He always has a good changeup and he continued to throw it well, but he had great angle with his fastball and his sliders had some depth tonight. That's huge for him."

Leyer allowed only three baserunners in his seventh Carolina League start after Trey Michalczewski staked him to a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer in the first. Zach Isler came on to pitch the seventh for Winston-Salem and recorded five outs, but Peter Tago blew the save in the ninth when Salem's Mario Martinez slapped a game-tying RBI single.

The Red Sox put the game away in the 11th when Jake Romanski hit an RBI double and Tzu-Wei Lin followed with a single that led to two more runs.

"He did his best job. He had his best game of the year," Perdew said of Leyer. "And we'll build from there. We wanted to make sure he had a good outing. "

Leyer, a 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic, had a no-hitter in the fifth, when Aneury Tavarez led off with a double to left. Salem managed only two other baserunners against the right-hander: Taverez reached on shortstop Cleuluis Rondon's error in the second and Lin walked with two outs in the sixth before Leyer retired Sam Travis on a popup to end his evening.

The 6-foot-2 righty has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of his seven starts, although Friday marked the first time he pitched six frames since August. Leyer, who signed with the White Sox prior to the 2012 season, last picked up a win on July 8, 2014 when he held Class A Greensboro to three hits over seven innings for Kannapolis.

Perdew repeated the White Sox' plan to harness Leyer's fastball with some consistency. He said he saw real progress Friday.

"Maintaining his angle of his fastball, that's his biggest key," he said. "He showed what he's capable of doing. When he has that angle, he can be very dominant. We knew he had it in him. We need that from him."

Perdew said the "angle" is related to how Leyer's arm comes to the plate. It's his second full season in the inors after spending a pair of summers in Rookie-level leagues. He's still very much a student, and Perdew said the organization isn't rushing him.

"He kind of gets a little quick in the stretch and leaves his arm behind," Perdew explained. "But he's been working on it and he's really buying into it. And he knows he needs to do it."

Leyer's older brother, Euclides, is a reliever for Winston-Salem but has been limited to one appearance this season. The elder Leyer, 24, signed with Chicago in 2010. Perdew said there was no consideration to have one brother follow the other to the mound on Friday.

"[Euclides] just pitched the other day," Perdew said. "But it's good. Both of them are good guys and they're very close. It's a good thing to have them together, they get along real well. It's a good support system."

A combo that could one day reach Chicago? Perdew wouldn't speculate on Leyer's potential -- the right-hander is not among MLB.com's top 30 White Sox prospects -- but said the Dash staff wanted to ensure Leyer departed with a successful line on Friday.

"Right now, these guys are in development. We're trying to get these guys to the Major Leagues, but we're obviously trying to win the game, too. The main thing is his well-being. We're making sure he did his job tonight and that's what we were looking at," Perdew said.

Teddy Stankiewicz started for Salem and allowed three runs -- two earned -- on seven hits over seven innings before German Taveras (1-0) worked three scoreless frames for his first win. Austin Maddox picked up his sixth save with a perfect 11th.

Jose Brito (1-2) surrendered all three late runs while recording six outs.