Alex Clemmey delivers the pitch. Clemmey threw 4.1 scoreless innings against the IronBirds. - Photo via Ryan Griffith
When there’s a total of 291 pitches thrown in a baseball game, some may hold less weight than others. But nothing was more important than Peyton Glavine’s 2-2 fastball to Aron Estrada in the Blue Rocks 6-2 win over the IronBirds on Tuesday, April 22.
Alex Clemmey had been dealing all the way up until the fifth, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out two and totaling 13 outs, but some command issues had driven the National’s No. 5 prospect’s pitch count up to the 70s after just four innings and forced the 6-6 lefty into some trouble early.
“[My command] is a work in progress,” Clemmey said. “It’s early in the season and I got a bunch more starts so I was happy to have zeros up there and help the team win.”
After IronBirds’ Ryan Stafford led the third inning off with a single through the right side, he stole second to get into scoring position. Then, he advanced to third after a fly out to deep center from Orioles No. 7 prospect Griff O’Ferrall.
At the very least, it appeared as if the IronBirds would tie the game up at one, as Clemmey would walk Orioles No. 5 prospect Vance Honeycutt to put runners on the corners with just one out, but a spectacular play from Clemmey flipped the momentum back in Wilmington’s favor.
Estrada smacked a ball right back to Clemmey, who made a great backhanded snag and fired it to Caleb Lomavita at the plate to get the speeding Stafford in a play at the plate and keep the Rocks up 1-0.
“You just gotta be an athlete out there,” Clemmey said. “Making that play was huge. Kept the runner away from scoring.”
Two pitches later, Lomavita threw out Estrada trying to steal to end the inning. That was all the trouble that Clemmey would face until the fifth when his command issues showed again. The inning started with an Anderson De Los Santos flyout, but a single from Stafford and back-to-back walks from O’Ferrall and Honeycutt loaded the bases and ended Clemmey’s day.
With Wilmington up 3-0, Peyton Glavine was the man manager Jake Lowery turned to, and he repaid his manager’s trust in a big way, as he got Estrada to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to keep the IronBirds off the board and eliminate any threat of a big inning.
“You just default to your training,” Glavine said. “You just get after it and stay aggressive and let the defense work behind you… Got him on a fastball. Just beat it into the ground.”
Not only was his fifth-inning appearance just his second of the year, but it marked the first time his cleats graced the rubber at Frawley Stadium in two years, as the 26-year-old left-hander had been working his way back from Tommy John surgery that he underwent in 2023.
“I’ve missed this place more than you guys know,” Glavine said. “It’s been really fun to be back with the team and get the adrenaline going a little bit and just pitch out here, so it’s been awesome.”
Despite throwing just five pitches and getting two outs, Glavine recorded the win, in front of some family as well.
“I got my girlfriend here so it’s always fun to pitch in front of her,” Glavine said. “She hasn’t gotten to see me pitch in a long, long time…I’m glad she got to see it.”
For comments/questions about this story DM us on Instagram @thewhitatrowan or email sports@thewhitonline.com