Carraway flirts with perfection
DOUG PACEY
So, who had pitcher Andrew Carraway being the Double-A Jackson call-up most likely to make an immediate impact at Tacoma?
Because that’s what the unheralded 25-year-old right-hander did in his Triple-A debut Friday night at Cheney Stadium when he took a perfect game into the seventh inning of a 4-0 win against Albuquerque, halting the Rainiers’ losing skid at seven games.
“I just wanted to pitch my game,” said Carraway, a 12th-round pick by Seattle in 2009. “A starting pitcher’s job is to keep his team in the game and go deep in the game.”
Carraway’s bid to become the fourth pitcher in Pacific Coast League history to throw a nine-inning perfect game ended when leadoff hitter Elian Herrera slapped a single through the right side of the infield in the seventh.
“It was an 0-0 change-up,” Carraway said. “For an 0-0 pitch you want to get a strike over. I probably could have gotten it down a little more.”
Later that inning, right fielder Chih-Hsien Chiang made the kind of diving, sliding catch that’s often needed to preserve a perfect game. Instead, it ended the inning and kept Herrera from scoring, preserving Tacoma’s 1-0 lead.
Carraway went back out in the eighth but faced two hitters – he walked Jerry Sands and got Tim Federowicz to foul out – before being pulled after throwing 101 pitches.
Carraway (1-0) finished with four strikeouts, one walk and one hit in 7 innings.
“He commands the strike zone,” Rainiers manager Daren Brown said. “ Solid job for his first time out here.”
The Rainiers added three runs in the eighth inning when Isotopes reliever Shawn Tolleson uncorked two wild pitches, and Guillermo Quiroz singled home Carlos Peguero.
Oliver Perez picked up his first save since 2000 when he was pitching in the Mexican League, striking out four in the final 12/3 innings.
SHORT HOPS
Designated hitter Luis Jimenez was a late scratch because of soreness. Johan Limonta replaced Jimenez in the lineup. ... The Rainiers announced a crowd of 7,225, the first sellout of the season.
ON TAP
Tacoma begins a four-game series against Round Rock by sending right-hander Erasmo Ramirez (0-0, 6.00 ERA) against left-hander Martin Perez (3-2, 2.98) at 7:05 p.m. at Cheney Stadium.
doug.pacey@thenewstribune.com 253-365-2975
