Jaye puts up six zeros in Mud Hens' return

Myles Jaye's first Triple-A appearance of the year was a long time coming. After seven starts in the International League last season, he opened 2017 in the Eastern league.
"I can't say I had a good Spring Training at all -- I kind of pitched my way back to Erie," Detroit's No. 15 prospect said. "So when the rosters came out and I saw that's where I was going, it was my goal to get back here. Now it's my goal to get to the big leagues."
Jaye took a stride toward that by allowing two hits over six innings in Toledo's 1-0 win over visiting Columbus on Monday night. He struck out seven and walked two.

Gameday box score
"It was a good welcome back. I felt pretty good. I didn't have the best command in the world," the 25-year-old right-hander said. "I have to give my catcher, John Hicks, a lot of credit. He was calling good pitches and kept me in the moment, keeping it one pitch at a time, and the defense made some good plays behind me."
In 14 Double-A starts, Jaye went 1-7 with a 4.29 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 71 1/3 innings. On Wednesday against Akron, the Fayetteville, Georgia native gave up five runs without getting out of the fifth.

"There were some different circumstances for that last start in Erie. I was a little under the weather a couple days before, and I was running on fumes out there. I was actually pretty happy with the way I threw the ball, and the final line [wasn't a good indicator] of how I threw," he said. "But to come here and throw six two-hit innings, that helps the confidence."

It started with 3 2/3 hitless frames, although he walked No. 8 Indians prospectYandy Díaz in the first inning and hit Eric Stamets in the second.
"The first couple innings, the command wasn't there," Jaye said. "Luckily, I was able to throw my breaking ball for strikes and keep them off balance until I figured out my command in the third or the fourth." 
He coasted into the sixth when Daniel Robertson opened the frame with a single up the middle and Diaz moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Abraham Almonte followed with a walk, but Jaye fanned Richie Shaffer. Hicks caught Robertson trying to steal third to end the inning. 
"That was probably the biggest out of my outing," the 2010 17th-round pick said. "I was trying to grind through the best I could, and the strikeout of Shaffer was huge, but [Robertson] was definitely the biggest."
Jaye (1-0) threw 54 of his 89 pitches for strikes.
"I didn't know how many [pitches I'd thrown], but when I came off the field, [Toledo pitching coach Jeff Pico] told me I was done. I'm not going to sit there and argue with him," Jaye said. "Plus, the bullpen -- [Jeff Ferrell and Joe Jiménez and Edward Mujica] -- they did a great job."
The three righties delivered one inning apiece. Ferrell gave up a hit and struck out one, Jimenez fanned two and Mujica registered a punchout en route to his seventh save.
The lone run came on Jason Krizan's fourth International League homer, his eighth overall of the year.