CORTES DEBUTS FOR MARINERS

Wilmington, DE - Former Wilmington starting pitcher Dan Cortes made his Major League debut over the weekend, becoming the franchise's 106th alumnus to reach the sport's highest level. Now a member of the Seattle Mariners, Cortes tossed a scoreless inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday in his first Major League action. He reprised that success with another scoreless inning against the Rays on Sunday. In two innings with the Mariners, he has struck out four and not allowed a baserunner.

Cortes made 24 starts for the Blue Rocks in 2007, going 8-8 with a 3.07 ERA. He struck out 120 men in 123 innings that season, and concluded the year as arguably the Carolina League's top pitcher. Over his final eight starts that season, Cortes went 6-0 with a 0.77 ERA.

His efforts resulted in major accolades, including Baseball America ranking Cortes as the Royals' second-best prospect entering the 2008 campaign. Following a 10-win effort for Double-A Northwest Arkansas that year, Cortes received the Paul Splittorff Pitcher of the Year Award from the Royals and played in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.

The California native entered 2009 as a "Player to Watch" as named by MLB.com. But he repeated Double-A with less success, going 6-6 with a 3.92 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) before the Royals traded him along with Derrick Saito to the Mariners in exchange for Yuniesky Betancourt on July 10, 2009.

He struggled for the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx to finish the year, going 1-5 with a 4.94 ERA over 10 starts. Those difficulties continued with West Tenn in 2010. After 16 starts, the once fast-rising prospect owned a 5-4 record and a 6.08 ERA. After a particularly rough loss at Birmingham on July 16, the Mariners moved Cortes into West Tenn's bullpen and saw some major results. In nine relief outings, Cortes assembled a 0.71 ERA, 20 strikeouts against four walks in 12.2 innings, and a .186 batting average against. That resulted in a mid-August promotion to Triple-A Tacoma and eventually his September call-up.

The Blue Rocks return to the field on April 8, 2011 as they open their season in Myrtle Beach, SC against the Pelicans. The full 2011 schedule will be announced later this off-season.

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