Threshers' Imhof shines before record crowd

Class A Advanced Clearwater drew a team-record 9,966 fans for Friday night's game against Tampa, and Matt Imhof ensured everyone got his or her money's worth.

"It was unbelievable," the Phillies' seventh-ranked prospect said. "Anytime you can get an electric atmosphere like it was it makes the game a little more fun. When you're in the game, you don't really notice it too much, but after I got taken out and I looked around and I'm seeing all these fans, it was pretty cool. It was the biggest crowd I've ever pitched in front of."

Imhof yielded one hit over a career-high six innings as the Threshers blanked the Yankees, 3-0, at Brighthouse Field. The southpaw walked four batters while striking out three.

Sidelined for eight weeks in mid-April by a biceps strain, the 2014 second-round pick was making his fifth start since returning from the injury. He said he continues to feel more comfortable with each outing.

"Coming out, the start of the year was rough," he said. "I went down early and was out for almost two months, so I've kind of got to get back into the swing of things, make a start every five days, that kind of thing. But now that I'm finally getting my routine back and [starting] to feel better, it's all starting to click.

"I definitely felt the best today. It's been a rough road a little bit for me recently just trying to dial in the mechanics and everything, but the shoulder feels strong. It feels healthy, so as long as that's the case, I'm going to be happy."

The 21-year-old worked around walks in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. It was the second straight start in which he walked four batters, although Charlotte turned them into seven runs in his previous outing. Imhof said he was pleased with his control but admitted cutting down on his walks is something he wanted to work on.

"I've always kind of struggled [with walks], I think," the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo produced said. "My last year in college, I had a few too many walks. Walks come back to haunt you, so it's always something you can cut down on. Tonight, I felt like I had pretty good command. They were battling me today, but it's definitely something in my game I need to improve on.

"It's just one of those things where I made a couple bad pitches after I walked a few guys in my last start and they took advantage of it. Today, once I let up a couple walks, I was able to make the right pitches in the right situations and get a couple ground balls."

The California native allowed only a second-inning single to Dante Bichette Jr. as he slashed his ERA from 5.73 to 4.50. As strong as his stuff was on Friday, Imhof feels like he can be better.

"[My stuff] is definitely where I need it to be, but it's not as good as it can be" the 6-foot-5 hurler said. "I think there's still a lot of improvement to be made that I can work on, but compared to where it was two months ago, last month, even last start, it was a lot better tonight.

"It's a confidence-boost, for sure, but you don't want to look too much into it. You want to go back to work tomorrow and get ready for the next one. But as far as for me being able to build off it, it's huge."

The Threshers scored the only runs Imhof needed in the fourth, when Rhys Hoskins hit an RBI double and came home on Willians Astudillo's sacrifice fly. 

Vincente Campos (0-1) allowed two runs on four hits over five innings, striking out three, in his Class A Advanced debut for Tampa.