Portland's Ball allows one hit in six frames

Trey Ball admits walking batters has been a flaw in his Minor League career, but he showed Monday night how to work around that problem.
Boston's No. 29 prospect overcame five walks and two hit batsman, allowing one hit in six scoreless innings of Double-A Portland's 5-1 win over New Hampshire at Hadlock Field. Ball recorded one strikeout and induced two double plays.

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"I felt really good out there on the mound," the left-hander said. "All of my pitches were moving a lot and I was able to take advantage of the two-seamer tonight, get some ground-ball outs and let the defense work."
Ball, coming off a seven-strikeout performance against Erie on Wednesday, tallied his lone punchout Monday against fourth-ranked Blue Jays prospectRichard Ureña in the first frame.
After working around a one-out single by Tim Lopes in the second, Ball spun his only 1-2-3 inning in the third on just eight pitches. From there, the 2013 first-round pick leaned on his defense.
Ball induced his first double play against Blue Jays No. 30 prospect Ryan McBroom after hitting 21st-ranked Danny Jansen with a pitch to lead off the fourth. The second came in the fifth when Lopes and Gunnar Heidt walked before being erased on a ground ball by Andrew Guillotte.

"It was a little bit of a struggle," the Indiana native said. "They were laying off a lot of my pitches, and I felt like I was making some pretty good pitches. I just kept getting too deep into counts. But after those walks, I was able to make some key pitches and let the defense work, and that really helped out the game."
Ball (2-6) exited after hitting Toronto's No. 14 prospect Harold Ramirez and walking Lopes to begin the seventh, making way for Luis Ysla. Boston's 20th-ranked prospect recorded a popout and two groundouts.
"After they took me out, I just had all the faith in our bullpen," Ball said. "Luis Ysla, he's a great pitcher. He came and he shut the door down."

Bobby Poyner pitched a perfect ninth for the Sea Dogs.
"It's a big encouragement to see that if I walk a guy, I just need to make this one pitch and I can get a ground-ball double play to get out of it," said Ball, who averaged 4.5 walks per nine innings coming into the contest. "I've struggled with walks a little bit this year and I struggled with that last year. I think being able to key in and make big pitches when you're deep in the counts, it's something I need to work on and get more consistent with and let it all play out."
Danny Mars collected three singles, while Henry Urrutia and Jeremy Barfield drove in two runs apiece for Portland.