Stellar work by A ball starters tonight

The Texas Rangers farm system has a number of exciting arms all throughout the system, but it was two of the more under-the-radar starting pitchers who tonight put up a couple of the best performances for any Ranger minor league pitcher this season.

For Hickory, righthander Tim Brennan needed just 73 pitches to get through 6 shutout innings. He took a no hitter into the sixth, and ended up allowing 1 walk and 1 hit while striking out 3. Brennan was a 7th round pick out of St. Joseph’s University last season, and was ranked #313 on the Baseball America pre-draft rankings. He doesn’t have impressive stuff — he sat at 89-91 mph in college — but he has excellent control. As we have discussed, pitchers who can locate well can sometimes dominate lower level hitters but be exposed at the upper levels. Brennan is going to have to prove himself at every level, but after not pitching after signing last year, he has 11 shutout innings as a pro.

For Down East, righthander Jason Bahr went 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk, striking out 8. Bahr, who came over from San Francisco when the Rangers took Austin Jackson and his salary off the Giants’ hands, allowed no runs in his first start of the season, and is now sporting a 0.82 ERA. Bahr is 24 and had 11 starts at high-A last year, so he is someone who could be in Frisco in the second half if he continues to pitch well.

The Nashville game had Ariel Jurado starting, and he allowed 5 runs on 10 hits in 5 innings, though with 7 Ks. Brett Martin also pitched two shutout innings, with 2 Ks and 4 hits, lowering his ERA to 1.17 while continuing to push for a major league gig. And Nashville got home runs from Willie Calhoun, Hunter Cole and Matt Davidson.