Tigers prospect Ramon Garcia tosses 1 hitter

[Dannomyte]

Ramon Garcia allowed just one hit over nine shutout innings as West Michigan cruised to a 3-0 win over visiting South Bend on Tuesday afternoon at Fifth Third Ballpark.

Garcia (6-1) walked Justin Upton in the first inning and yielded a one-out single to Trey Hendricks in the second. The 21-year-old left-hander then retired the next 23 batters he faced en route to recording the first nine-inning shutout of his professional career.

Garcia retired 16 batters on flyouts, nine on groundouts and struck out just two. Thanks to his dominant outing, the time of the game was a crisp one hour and 50 minutes.

Garcia, a native of the Dominican Republic, has allowed just seven runs over 60 innings pitched on the season. His 1.05 ERA ranks third in the Midwest League, while his 47 strikeouts lead the Whitecaps.

The Detroit Tigers signed Garcia as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He spent last season as a member of the Tigers' Gulf Coast Rookie League club, where he went 5-3 with a 3.65 ERA over 10 starts.

West Michigan (26-17) got on the board in the fourth inning, providing Garcia with all the support he would need. Justin Justice's sacrifice fly scored Pedro Cotto, who had reached on first baseman Bryan Byrne's fielding error to start the frame. Mark Haske contributed an RBI single in the seventh, while William Rhymes tripled and scored in the eighth.

Adam Howard (1-1) took the tough luck loss as South Bend (21-24) was shut out for the sixth time this season. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed an unearned run on four hits over five innings while striking out five. Vincent Bongiovanni and Forrest Cory each yielded a run in relief.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/ ... &fext=.jsp



Ramon Garcia's stats so far this season

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/ ... pid=458930

This kids numbers look amazing so far this season.

[moochman]

Thanks, Danno!
It's only A ball, but you never have to make-up for a great start.
Speaking of the Caps, what's the latest on Maybin? Last I heard they didn't think he'd need surgery, but that a few weeks rest could be the answer to his finger joint issue.

[mcqfesijiba]

He's 21 so I think a move up to Lakeland by midseason is very reasonable. He just isn't being challenged at all right now and he's consistently dominant.

About Maybin: that actually is the latest news on him, as far as I've heard. I assume there won't be much news on him unless the situation changes.