Fernandez posts seven zeros for Blue Rocks

Pedro Fernandez is starting to show he understands what it takes to work deep into ballgames. 

Kansas City's No. 21 prospect scattered four hits and struck out seven across a career-high seven scoreless innings for Class A Advanced Wilmington in a 3-1 loss to Potomac in 12 innings at Frawley Field on Sunday.

Blue Rocks pitching coach Charlie Corbell said the right-hander has progressed to the point that his performance tends to dictate the length of his outing. 

"He went out through the sixth inning once before this season and was real efficient with his pitch count," he said. "He was in good shape again today, so we let him go. The last inning got a little long for him, but he did a great job was able to get out of it."

Fernandez threw a 1-2-3 first inning and worked around Drew Ward's single in the second. He got into some trouble in the third by yielding a single, a walk and throwing a wild pitch, but the 21-year-old induced one of his eight ground-ball outs to begin a stretch of retiring down eight Nationals in a row.

"When he gets into a jam, he does a good job of attacking the zone," Corbell explained. "He keeps the defense in the game by staying in the strike zone for them and makes things happen. That helps him to get off the mound when he needs to."

After going 6-2 with a 3.12 ERA over 18 appearances for Class A Lexington last season, Fernandez moved up to Wilmington in July and struggled through seven starts, posting an 0-6 record and an 8.82 ERA. This year, Corbell said the native of the Dominican Republic has made strides in keeping hitters off balance and keeping the ball down in the zone.

"All Spring Training, he worked at staying in his delivery," he said. "He's got a smooth motion and he's strong, so the more he stays downhill, the more he executes good quality pitches. And now he's painting both sides of the plate with the fastball, making pitches and getting better each start. He's making strides with the breaking ball and is using good sequences with the fastball and the other pitches has to work with."

In four starts this year, Fernandez has recorded 23 strikeouts while allowing three earned runs across 22 1/3 innings. He hasn't given up a home run since last Aug. 19.

"We talk with him about getting down the slope all the time and that's what makes all of Pete's pitches better," Corbell added. "When he gets his fastball into the zone consistently and works both sides, it's real tough on these hitters."

In the seventh, with his pitch count approaching 100 and runners on first and third with one out, Fernandez fanned Bryan Mejia and Alec Keller to escape unscathed.

"We were down to his last hitter, no matter what, so we all wanted him to get the job done, and he did it," Corbell said. "He was just excited to get out there and compete. That's what we appreciate about Petey, he's a strong, young kid who has a good idea about how this whole thing works. He's always easy to work with and is eager to learn."

Wirkin Estevez struck out one over five one-hit innings for Potomac. Justin Thomas (1-1) worked two innings of scoreless relief to get the win.

Washington's No. 8 prospect Andrew Stevenson drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th with an RBI double to center field.