Manatees' Moye makes most of break

Andy Moye was given 12 days off since his last start. Apparently, he made good use of that time.

The Brewers prospect fired seven one-hit innings, striking out five batters and walking one, on Saturday as Class A Advanced Brevard County blanked Fort Myers, 3-0.

Moye (5-2) was afforded the extra rest when the Manatees switched to a modified six-man rotation.

The extra rest and mental reset did the trick for the 24-year-old right-hander after he surrendered 11 runs -- 10 earned -- on 15 hits over 9 1/3 innings in his previous two starts.

"It feels great. I had given up some runs and I took that little break, so I was able to get a mental break and rest my arm and get back to the way I was throwing earlier in the year," Moye said. "I was trusting my stuff to work, with all three of my pitches. You think you'd be a little rusty, but I was able to get around the zone with all of them."

Moye began the year with Class A Wisconsin and earned a swift promotion after going 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA in eight Midwest League appearances. He struck out 33 and walked eight across 37 1/3 innings with the Timber Rattlers.

That form initially carried over into the Florida State League, where he limited opponents to three earned runs or fewer in seven of his first eight starts. Moye struggled in back-to-back outings earlier this month as his ERA climbed from 4.35 to 5.36.

The 12-day respite, he said, helped him right the ship.

"I took a few days off from throwing, didn't pick up a ball. I did exercises and worked out and threw a couple bullpens and live [batting practice sessions] to stay fresh," the Georgia Southern product said. "I kind of got away from why I was so successful earlier in the year, tried to bump up the speed a little bit and left the ball up. When it's up, guys will hit it in this league."

The 2011 15th-round Draft pick said he'd been trying too hard to blow the ball by hitters and had to go back to focusing on hitting his spots.

"You get caught up trying to throw the ball hard, and I knew I didn't have that in me. The way I was feeling just wasn't as sharp as the beginning [of the season]," Moye explained. "I had to get back to trusting myself, locating down in the zone, rather than throwing hard. After I got over that hump, I was able to locate."

Saturday's outing dropped Moye's ERA down to 4.69, and he has 42 strikeouts against 19 walks over 55 2/3 innings for Brevard County.

"That was one of my better outings of the year," he said. "I definitely want to build off this start. You always have to get better, can't be satisfied."

Greg Holle worked through the eighth and Casey Medlen pitched the ninth for his 16th save, closing out the Manatees' eighth shutout.

Shea Vucinich and Jason Rogers both had two hits and an RBI for Brevard County.