Aceves bounces back in style

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Aceves bounces back in style
05/03/2008 10:31 PM ET
By Eric Justic

Alfredo Aceves was coming off his worst start of the season. But how a pitcher adjusts can really show a lot about his potential.
Aceves passed that test with flying colors Saturday, allowing one hit over a season-high seven innings as the Tampa Yankees blanked the Jupiter Hammerheads, 5-0, at Steinbrenner Field.
After yielding four runs on six hits over six innings and suffering his first loss of the season on April 27, Aceves (3-1) retired the first 17 Hammerheads and took a no-hitter into the seventh. The difference was using all of his pitches with great location.
"He wasn't locating his pitches in the past start," Yankees manager Luis Sojo said. "When you get behind hitters, you are going to get hit hard, and I think that was the problem."
The 25-year-old right-hander breezed through the fifth before issuing a two-out walk to Greg Burns in the sixth. He used his entire repertoire to lower his ERA to 2.60.
"In the past, he's been throwing a lot of cutters and sinkers. In the past, he didn't throw many changeups and breaking balls. Today, he was using everything," Sojo noted. "He was mixing in those pitches. He cut the ball real good this time, too."
Logan Morrison broke up the no-hitter with a one-out double in the seventh.
"It was 3-2 pitch," Sojo said. "He threw a lot of offspeed pitches to that guy and [Morrison] won the battle. He got ahead two strikes, threw a changeup and the guy took advantage of him."
Aceves, who struck out four, showed he could pitch after going 34-23 over six seasons in the Mexican League. He went 11-5 last season with the Sultanes de Monterrey, allowing one hit over seven scoreless frames on May 24, 2007.
After pitching into the seventh for the first time as a member of the Yankees organization, Aceves had done enough to impress.
"That's a huge step," Sojo said. "You have to bounce back from a bad start. He had a bad outing, but he knows how to pitch. He knows how to come back.
"I think he can pitch in Double-A right now. I don't think he needs any adjustments."
Jose Valdez allowed a hit and a walk over the final two innings to complete the Yankees' Florida State League-leading sixth shutout.
Josue Calzado hit a solo homer and Damon Sublett went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored for Tampa (16-13), which has won three in a row.
Jupiter starter Graham Taylor (4-2) surrendered five runs on 11 hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.