“No black clouds, nothing!” manager Andy Etchebarren said, describing the sky when home plate umpire Travis Hatch signaled for the Aberdeen groundscrew to put the tarp on the field in the bottom of the seventh inning on Sunday night.
He could have been describing Aberdeen?s 9-4 record through Monday, the best start in the team?s history.
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Aberdeen returned home Sunday to face the Staten Island Yankees after a six-game road trip in which the IronBirds took two of three from Staten Island and the Brooklyn Cyclones.
“New York is not one of my favorite places. It wasn?t when I played in the big leagues and it isn?t now,” Etchebarren said.
The IronBirds pitching staff has been dominant through 13 games, and has an ERA of 2.13. “I am surprised that the ERA is down around two, but I think we have pretty good pitching,” Etchebarren said.
Pitcher Wilfredo Perez (2.31 ERA) threw five brilliant innings on Sunday, while striking out five and giving up one run on four hits. “Before I did not have a change up, and the breaking ball is a little bit tighter and a little bit harder,” Perez said, through a translator. Perez said that Aberdeen pitching coach Calvin Maduro has been working with him on developing the change up.
Pedro Beato, the 32nd overall pick by the Orioles in early June, threw his first professional pitches in the top of the ninth to close out the 8-3 win Sunday. “[Beato] showed outstanding stuff. He showed a good fastball, a good curveball and a good change up,” Etchebarren said.
Etchebarren said that Aberdeen?s offense is starting to gel around the pitching. “Some guys that were struggling are starting to show a little bit better discipline and show a little bit better swings,” Etchebarren said. “[Chris] Vinyard cannot hit like this all year; he hit a hot streak to start the season. I think he is a pretty good hitter,” Etchebarren said.
Vinyard is leading the New York-Penn League in batting through Monday with a .438 average. He has 12 RBI?s and after Sunday?s game he was 10-for-12 with runners in scoring position. “It seems like that when I have two strikes I am seeing [the ball] even better. I think most of my hits have been with two strikes,” Vinyard said.
