Silver Hawks' Valdez tosses one-hitter

Cesar Valdez tossed a one-hitter Friday as the South Bend Silver Hawks edged the Beloit Snappers, 1-0, at Pohlman Field.

Valdez (6-7) struck out four without issuing a walk and did not allow a hit until Steven Singleton reached on an infield single in the fifth inning.

"He was really impressive," said South Bend pitching coach Wellington Cepeda, who admitted the single was a hard liner that took a bad hop. "If it doesn't take a bad hop, he might have thrown a no-hitter. He controlled the [strike] zone from the first inning."

Valdez shook off the hit and retired the last 14 batters to win his third consecutive decision. He lowered his ERA to 3.11 and remained unbeaten since July 9.

The 22-year-old right-hander threw 90 pitches, just about what Cepeda said the Silver Hawks had anticipated.

"He was always on top of hitters, getting ahead in the count. He only had one three-ball count the whole game," Cepeda added.

It was just the fourth time Valdez has worked past the eighth this season, although he has gone seven innings in each of his last two starts. He has allowed two earned runs over last three appearances, spanning 23 innings.

"The last 23 innings, he's only given up eight hits and two runs," Cepeda noted. "He's really making the hitters hit his pitch, he's getting, using a good sweeping curve, a plus changeup and just great movement."

Cepeda said Valdez's 6-7 record is not a true reflection of how effective the starter has been this season.

"The way he's pitching, ERA-wise, has been like we expected, but his [win-loss] numbers are deceiving. He's a better pitcher than a 6-7 record," the pitching coach explained.

Valdez has been in a groove lately, exactly a year since he won Northwest League Player of the Week honors. He yielded an unearned run on two hits in last start on July 21 against Wisconsin.

"He's spotting his fastball in and out, getting good downward sinking action with 86-89 miles an hour, so that's a big plus," Cepeda said. "He's just changing speeds and keeping hitters off-balance."

The native of the Domincan Republic recorded two nine-inning complete games last season for short-season Yakima. He allowed one run on six hits on July 20 against Salem-Keizer before limiting Everett to one run on three hits on Aug. 21.

Valdez signed with Arizona as a non-drafted free agent in May 2005 and went 7-5 with a 3.15 ERA in 16 Northwest League games last season.

The Snappers (19-13) threatened against Valdez in the second, when Singleton reached on a wild third strike, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. He was stranded when Garrett Olson skied to center.

The Silver Hawks (17-16) took the lead four batters into the game when Brad Miller singled home Joey Side.

Beloit starter Alex Burnett (6-6) pitched well in a losing effort, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts in six innings.