BOISE, Idaho — Bryant’s Ben Wells earned his first professional victory in his first[more] appearance in relief for the Boise Hawks on Monday, June 27. Then, on Saturday, he absorbed his first loss in his third start.
In the win, Wells relieved starter Jose Rosario with one out and the bases loaded in the fourth inning with the Hawks, the short-season Northwest League Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, already leading the Spokane Indians 7-3. The right-hander induced a doubleplay ball to get out of the inning but, as it turned out, the outing was Wells’ least effective in three appearances this season.
Over four innings, he allowed four earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. But the Hawks outlasted the Indians 11-7 to gain the victory with Wells the pitcher of record because Rosario had not lasted the required five innings for a starter to earn the win.
Wells worked a 1-2-3 fifth then pitched around a single and an error in the sixth. But he surrendered a three-run homer in the seventh. In the eighth he hit a batter, gave up a single and, with one out, issued a walk to load the bases. An RBI single followed and Wells gave way to teammate Dustin Fitzgerald who finished and earned the save.
Saturday’s loss came against the Yakima Bears (Arizona Diamondbacks), 7-2. Wells pitched four innings and gave up five runs, four earned on six hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Yakima struck for two runs in the first, taking advantage of a pair of Boise errors with a pair of hits, a pair of walks and two wild pitches.
But starting with the final batter of the first, Wells then set down seven in a row before surrendering a lead-off triple in the fourth. A pair of singles, a double and an RBI groundout gave the Bears a 5-1 lead before Wells got out of the inning with a doubleplay, completing his work for the day.
