Naylor able to tear down Legends
The 21-year-old right-hander from Brisbane, Australia posted a season-high 11 strikeouts in eight innings as the host Lakewood BlueClaws beat the Lexington Legends, 11-2.
Naylor (2-2) allowed a run on five hits and walked one to lower his ERA to 2.25. He leads the South Atlantic League with 50 K's in 44 innings this season. He struck out the side in the fourth (swinging) and sixth (looking) innings.
"All my pitches were working pretty well," he said. "I was getting ahead in the count, and I was able to keep my change and curve down in the zone.
"It always helps to get eight innings under your belt. It really builds the confidence," he added. "I felt like I wasn't going to give up a run and, even when I did, it didn't bother me." The Legends scored their only run off Naylor in the fifth on Steve Brown's double, a walk, a wild pitch and Matthew Cusick's groundout.
Naylor fanned 11 on three different occasions last year while playing for Williamsport in the short-season New York-Penn League. He finished the season for the Crosscutters at 8-6 with a 3.28 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 93 1/3 innings.
Naylor was signed by the Phillies as a 17-year-old free agent in 2004. He came to Spring Training in 2005 before returning home to play in Australian Summer League, then played in the Gulf Coast League in 2006.
His desire to play the game balances out the fact that he's a long way from home.
"The first year I was a little homesick for about a week, but it hasn't been a problem," Naylor said. "I love playing baseball, and I want to try to make it to the big leagues."
The hurler got plenty of offensive assistance as the BlueClaws (14-16) pounded out 16 hits. Dominic Brown homered and had three RBIs, Michael Taylor and Michael Durant drove in two runs apiece and Derrick Mitchell went 3-for-5.
Colt Adams (1-3) surrendered seven runs on seven hits, striking out one and walking two in two innings to take the loss for the Legends (10-20).
Alan Friedman is a contributor to MLB.com.