Woodford dominates in Palm Beach shutout

Jake Woodford made quick work of the Fort Myers Miracle in the top of the first inning on Sunday. Then his offense gave him the freedom to make quick work of them the rest of the day.
The Cardinals' 17th-ranked prospect gave up three hits over seven innings, striking out four without issuing a walk as Class A Advanced Palm Beach blanked Fort Myers, 5-0, at Roger Dean Stadium.

Woodford set the tone in the first by retiring the Miracle in order. Cardinals No. 15 prospect Randy Arozarena clubbed a three-run homer to left with two outs in the bottom half to give him an early cushion.
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"Randy got us on the board pretty early, so we had the lead the whole day, which was big," Woodford said. "I just tried to attack the zone and command all my pitches and let the defense do most of the work.
"You get that early lead and you just want to get your offense back in the dugout to keep the momentum on your side. You just go out there and try to get ahead early and not try to waste too many pitches, just make quality pitches and try to get some weak contact."
Working with that lead, Woodford (3-3) encountered trouble only in the second, and even that threat was minimal. Tanner English roped a ball to left leading off but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple. One out later, Trey Vavra doubled to left but was stranded as Woodford locked in with his catcher, Chris Chinea.
"You just trust that the catcher's done his homework," the right-hander said. "Chris is really good at reading swings and reading what hitters are trying to do, so it just kind of takes the thinking out of it to where you're trying to execute pitches and stay in that rhythm. He was great behind the plate today."
Beginning with the final out of the second, Woodford retired 14 straight until Zander Wiel singled with one out in the seventh. He retired the next two batters to wrap up his first scoreless effort since his season debut on April 10.
"You don't really think about that when you're out there," he said of his roll. "You just focus on executing the next pitch and then after that pitch, you think about executing the next one. You just take it pitch by pitch and try not to get sped up. When your defense is playing well and offense is putting runs on the board, you just go out there and try to attack guys."

Woodford's outing matched his longest of the season and came after the 2015 supplemental first-round pick surrendered seven runs -- four earned -- on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings on May 27 in a loss at Florida.
"I wouldn't really say anything was different," he said. "You just execute your pitches and try to stay within yourself. If you can do that, trust your teammates and know that they have your back behind you, it's definitely easier to pitch."
Woodford threw 63 of 90 pitches for strikes before Andrew Morales and Estarlin Arias combined on two perfect innings to finish off the Cards' Florida State League-leading eighth shutout.
Randal Grichuk provided insurance for Palm Beach with an RBI triple in the fifth.