Dash's Marin spins eight two-hit innings

It's been an eventful three months for White Sox pitching prospect Terance Marin. In fact, this time two weeks ago, you couldn't call him a member of the South Siders.

The 24-year-old joined Chicago as a free agent in 2010, and until a week into the 2014 campaign, he was progressing through the ranks. Then he gave up 10 runs in five days and was released from his contract.

Now back with the organization that let him go just 10 weeks ago -- and with the team from whose locker he had to clear out in early April -- Marin looks as though he'd never left.

Marin allowed two hits and a walk while striking out four batters over a career-high eight innings in the Class A Advanced Winston-Salem Dash's 3-0 win over the Carolina Mudcats on Monday.

"No baseball player wants to go through that, but it was a reality check," Marin said. "It made me want to work harder. It definitely wasn't a good feeling, but I knew I could pitch. My pitching coach (J.R. Perdew) said he believed in me and that gave me the push to keep throwing."

The right-hander allowed a one-out single to Yhoxian Medina in the first inning and Alex Monsalve's leadoff triple in the third, but that was all the Mudcats mustered against Marin. He retired the final 13 batters he faced and 17 of the final 18.

The eight innings were the most he's thrown as a pro, topping his previous high of seven set just 10 days ago in his return to affiliated ball against Salem.

"Honestly, I was just trying to get ahead in the count and keep my team in the ballgame," said Marin, who throws a low 90s fastball, a mid-80s cutter, a slider, a changeup and a curveball. "I would say I mainly threw my fastball. I threw my cutter in 2-0 counts just because they're sitting red on the fastball. The second or third time through the lineup, I gave them something else to look at.

"This was a good game for me. It's at least in my top three."

The California native has experienced the highs and lows of pro baseball in the first half of the season, his fifth in the Minors. He surrendered five runs out of the bullpen Opening Day without recording an out and he yielded five unearned runs four days later in an inning of relief.

That led to the White Sox releasing Marin, who latched on with the Evansville Otters of the independent Frontier League. In six starts with the Indianapolis-based team, Marin went 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA and a 39:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

"I knew I wasn't pitching to my full potential," Marin said. "If you don't pitch well and you're a free-agent signing, you're the first to go. But I wasn't upset with the organization. It was mostly my fault.

"A person I played with last year [Max Peterson] is the pitching coach in Evansville. As soon as he heard I was released, he said there was a spot for me if I wanted it. I wasn't the same pitcher I was in 2011 or 2012. I'd lost my confidence. It would say it was more mental. I just tried not to think about the game as much."

Impressed with the growth Marin was making as a starter -- 105 of his 112 outings in the Minors had been in relief -- Chicago came knocking two months after cutting ties with the right-hander. He returned to the bump with seven innings of one-run ball against Salem on June 20 and three three-run frames in Frederick on Wednesday.

"They gave me a call ... and said we would like to have you back if you want it. It's affiliated ball, so I jumped at it even though they had let me go. I know this organization and I know all the people and I know the system. As long as they like me and keep giving me jobs, I will be happy with that. It feels good to be back."

First baseman and No. 12 White Sox prospect Keon Barnum was 4-for-4 with a homer, a double and two runs scored and right fielder Jason Coats added a solo long ball.

Carolina's Adam Plutko (1-3) allowed three runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out two batters over seven innings.