In his fourth start with the WhiteCaps, Tom de Blok dominated the opposing lineup. The WhiteCaps let him pitch one inning more than in his previous outing. Unlike his previous start, Tom got plenty of run support as he shut out the Quad Cities River Bandits and the WhiteCaps won 7-0.
Since his return to the West Michigan WhiteCaps, Tom didn’t have an outing as good as this one. In seven innings, Tom gave up only three hits, didn’t walk anybody and struck out eight.
Tom needed 86 pitches (of which 60 were thrown for strikes) to finish the seven innings he lasted on the mound. In the first four innings, Tom was on no-hit course, but it was spoiled in the fifth frame when the RiverBandits hit back-to-back singles.
Tom faced a total of 23 hitters.
De Blok’s successors, John Schreiber and Trent Szkutnik also pitched a shut out inning each. Schreiber gave up a walk and Szkutnik gave up a single.
The way De Blok is pitching, you may wonder what the Mariners are thinking. The M’s signed De Blok a few years ago and sent him to the DSL. In the Dominican Republic, Tom had a rough start as his possessions were stolen from him. He was pretty fed up with it, so he decided to go home. Now with the Tigers, Tom is seizing this new opportunity with both hands.
Thanks to this fantastic outing, Tom has lowered his ERA to a microscopic 0.92 and his WHIP to 0.76.
Never say never, but don’t expect Tom to be promoted to A-Advanced this season anymore. With the WhiteCaps, Tom will play in the play offs of the Midwest League as the team won the first half of the season of the Eastern Division with a 5.5 lead over the Dayton Dragons. In the second half so far, the WhiteCaps are in the lead again with a 2 game lead over the Fort Wayne TinCaps after 17 games played.
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