Of all the pitchers on all the minor league teams in America, who would have guessed that the starting pitcher in Monday's Major League Baseball (MLB) Network minor league broadcast season debut would be from Bellevue, Idaho?
Step right up, Ryne Reynoso.
Reynoso, 25, the 6-2, 230-pound righthander out of Wood River High and Boston College, was the starting pitcher for the Triple A International League Gwinnett (Ga.) Braves in Monday's "Education Day" morning eye-opener against the tough Durham (N.C.) Bulls at Durham's Goodmon Field.
It was the first of MLB Network's 2010 minor league broadcasts—and Reynoso didn't disappoint those who tuned into the 9:05 a.m. opening pitch. He pitched well against the most prolific offensive team in the International League South, first-place Durham (14-5), part of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Reynoso (4.2 innings, 7 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) came within one out of recording his first AAA victory as Gwinnett (8-11) nipped the Bulls 4-3. Working fast and locating his fastball well, Reynoso (89 pitches, 53 strikes, 7 ground ball outs, 5 fly ball outs) was one reason the game time was only 2:37 before 5,767 fans on a 69-degree day.
Staked to an early 4-0 lead in the final game of a four-game series, Reynoso exited with two outs in the fifth after Durham pieced together three singles and scored an unearned run. His season record in four starts remains 0-3, but he lowered his ERA to 5.03. Reynoso (15 K, 8 BB) has allowed 19 hits and 11 earned runs in 19.2 innings.
Gwinnett Braves are one step below the Atlanta Braves major league team. Reynoso was signed by the Braves out of Boston College in 2006.
