Pelfrey makes stellar pro debut

Pelfrey pitched five stellar innings in his professional debut on Thursday night as the St. Lucie Mets blanked the Vero Beach Dodgers, 1-0, at Tradition Field.

The Mets' first-round pick in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Pelfrey didn't figure in the decision, despite dominating the Dodgers. The 6-foot-7 right-hander out of Wichita State gave up singles in the second and fourth innings, but only two balls were hit out of the infield against him.

Pelfrey struck out six and walked one. He was the ninth overall pick last June but did not sign with New York until January, agreeing to a four-year deal with a reported $3.5 million signing bonus.

The Wichita, Kan., native almost immediately became the organization's top pitching prospect. As a junior at Wichita State, he went 12-3 with a 1.93 ERA in 19 starts, racking up 143 strikeouts in 139 2/3 innings.

Pelfrey made two appearances for the Mets in Spring Training and gave up one earned run on six hits in seven innings with a walk and six strikeouts.

St. Lucie plated the game's lone run in the eighth. Shawn Bowman led off with a double off Vero Beach reliever Brian Akin (0-1) and came home three batters later on Alhaji Turay's groundout.

Akin yielded one run on two hits with two strikeouts in three innings.

Reliever Robert Paulk (1-0) picked up the win, giving up one hit and fanning one in the eighth. Carlos Muniz retired the side in order in the ninth for his first save.

Top prospect Scott Elbert started for the Dodgers and matched Pelfrey, yielding four hits and two walks while striking out one in five scoreless innings.

Joshua Petersen led St. Lucie with two hits.