By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER — A big-boy save. That’s what Rochester Red Wing pitching coach Stu Cliburn calls it.
Wings reliever Matt Magill came on to start the seventh. Nine outs later, the 6-foot-3 right-hander put the finishing touches on his second save of the season.
There was no dramatic entrance from the right field bullpen with the outcome hanging in the balance. By the final count it was 12 batters faced in workmanlike fashion to get the home nine an 8-3 win and a series split with the Gwinnett Stripers. He threw 43 pitches – 32 for strikes.
“That’s about creating an opportunity at the major league level,” Wings manager Joel Skinner said. “When they look down and look at people’s performances they’re looking for multiple innings. They got guys up there to save games and to pitch in the eighth in the ninth innings.
“Until you get there, you need to be that guy that can pitch multiple innings.”
Magill retired the side in order in the seventh including a pair of strike outs. He faced four in the eighth getting the first two on strikes and surrendered a pair of one-out base hits in the ninth before ending the game on a weak infield pop up. It was his longest outing of the season.
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“He’s got a clean delivery,” Skinner added. “He’s throwing the ball where he wants and he’s got major-league stuff. That’s the combination.”
A 31st round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2008 MLB draft, Magill has spent parts of the last five seasons at the Triple-A level starting with Albuquerque (PCL) in 2013 and stints with Louisville 2015 and ’16. The Simi Valley, CA native made 19 starts in 2017 and threw 95-plus innings.
He signed with the Twins on January 25th.
Through 8.2 innings this year, Magill has yet to allow a run. He has 13 strike outs, two walks and a WHIP of 0.81. Opposing batters are hitting .161 against him.
“It’s something that guys embrace,” Skinner said of the work out of the bullpen. “They realize that if I can do that now, later down the road in these guys’ careers they can start to hold themselves as big leaguers.”
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