Shipley keeps gathering steam for Aces

Braden Shipley wasn't even supposed to pitch on Sunday.

"We had a day off and I was lined up to get an extra day's rest and was supposed to throw [Monday], but organizationally, we had a couple moves that were made," the D-backs' top prospect said. "Our manager, Phil Nevin, he called me and said, 'Hey, can you throw on Sunday?' And I was like, 'You're dang right I can.'"

Shipley didn't let the opportunity to go to waste, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out five over six frames as Triple-A Reno walked off with a 1-0, 12-inning triumph over Albuquerque at Greater Nevada Field.

The Isotopes battled against Shipley, who pitched with at least one baserunner in every inning but the fourth. The University of Nevada product managed to put together his second consecutive scoreless outing.

"I felt pretty good, I had good command of my stuff," Shipley said. "I don't think my curveball was as good tonight as it was in my last outing, but I was able to throw it for strikes and keep hitters off-balance."

The 24-year-old right-hander's fastball and changeup picked up the slack, helping him prevent Albuquerque from getting a baserunner beyond second.

It didn't hurt that fifth-ranked Rockies prospect Jeff Hoffman matched Shipley with each scoreless inning, a competition the 2013 first-round pick relished.

"As a pitcher, that's the kind of outing that I like to have," he said. "Get a guy on the hill that you know is going to be competitive on both sides. Then you just got to go out and make sure that you're executing your pitches and giving your team an opportunity to win a ballgame."

Shipley bowed out of the competition after six innings, with his pitch count at 104, thanks to back-to-back walks by Stephen Cardullo and Dustin Garneau in the sixth. MLB.com's No. 64 overall prospect said fatigue may have begun to catch up to him.

"I was a little bit drained going into that sixth," Shipley said. "But I think despite the overall workload of last start and then this start -- their hitters had some tough ABs against me and got me deep into counts and fouled some pitches off -- I was able to make quality pitches and get out of innings."

Shipley added another sterling start to his 2016 resume, lowering his ERA to 3.26. He said he's gotten stronger with each outing.

"I think just adjusting to the league and learning from each start has really helped me," Shipley said. "This offseason, I worked on my mechanics and I feel like I'm finally at a place now where I'm repeating my delivery every time and it's allowed me to throw the ball downhill, down in the zone and attack the zone.

"Coming into this season, even through Spring Training, my stuff has felt very good. Really, if you break it down, I've had one bad inning [each start] that's hurt me. But I learn from those things and that's what my entire goal is, to keep developing and learning and growing as a pitcher."

The Aces walked off in the 12th on a leadoff homer by D-backs No. 9 prospect Peter O'Brien off Ryan Arrowood (0-1).

Matt Capps (1-0) got the win, walking one and fanning one in a scoreless inning.

Hoffman exited after yielding three hits and striking out six without issuing a walk over seven scoreless frames. He's third in the Pacific Coast League with a 1.52 ERA.