Parker finds his place

Pitcher hurls six shutout innings

If he keeps pitching like he did Saturday against Bakersfield, he might begin to make JetHawks fans forget about some of those highly-touted Timber Rattlers pitchers that didn't come to Lancaster.

Parker pitched six scoreless innings against the Blaze on Saturday to lead Lancaster to a 1-0 victory over Bakersfield. It was the second consecutive shutout victory for the JetHawks (2-1) in their season-opening series at Bakersfield.

"I'm very excited with what I've seen so far," JetHawks manager Darrin Garner said. "They've been competing real well."

Garner is especially pleased with the way his pitching staff competed in the first three games of the season, and Parker (1-0) kept that string going Saturday.

Last year, Parker was in the same Wisconsin starting rotation that included top prospects Ryan Anderson, Gil Meche and Joel Pineiro, who now are at Class AA New Haven. Parker, who finished the season with a quiet 7-6 record and a 5.22 ERA, finished tied with Anderson for second on the team with 152 strikeouts, only 16 behind Meche.

"The coaching staff never forgot about me," said Parker, who was the Mariners' second-round selection in the 1997 June draft behind Meche. "They don't overlook any pitchers. They try to treat us all the same."

With his nine strikeouts Saturday, Parker grabbed the early-season team lead and possibly the attention of more people than just the Mariners' minor league coaching staff.

Following in the footsteps of Brian Fitzgerald from one night earlier, Parker did a good job of throwing strikes, registering 65 on his 90 pitches. The 23-year-old right-hander from Picayune, Miss., held the Blaze to two hits and a walk.

"All I ask these guys to do is throw strikes," Garner said. "If they hit it 2,000 miles, it's OK, just as long as they throw strikes."

The only time Parker got in trouble throwing strikes was when leadoff batter Arturo McDowell reached base on the JetHawks' first error of the season charged to shortstop Joel Ramirez in the sixth inning. But Parker struck out Sammy Serrano with McDowell standing 90 feet away from scoring a game-tying run to end the threat.

Lancaster scored the only run of the game in the top of the first inning, when Jermaine Clark singled and scored on a throwing error by Bakersfield shortstop Cody Ransom following a Greg Connors infield single.

Other than that unearned run, Bakersfield starter Chad Zerbe (0-1) managed to keep the JetHawks offense relatively silent, surrendering four hits and two walks in five innings. He certainly pitched well enough to pick up his first victory in a Bakersfield uniform, after going 0-10 with the then-Bakersfield Dodgers in 1993.

But he didn't pitch well enough to overcome Parker and the Lancaster bullpen, which was outstanding in its three innings of relief to hold on to the one-run lead.

"Each of these guys that comes in after me, I have all the confidence in their ability to hold a lead," Parker said. "I think we have a very good pitching staff and a good defense behind it."

Closer Justin Kaye worked a scoreless ninth - striking out two - to pick up the JetHawks' first save of the season. Tim McClaskey, Juan Ramos and Zach Stark got the lead to Kaye after combining to strike out two and allow only two hits in the seventh and eighth innings.

"We have some guys that will go out there and compete and get the job done for you," Garner said of his bullpen.