Wood, Wells see first action of 2012 season

Bryant products Travis Wood and Ben Wells made their 2012 professional debuts on[more] Monday night. Wood, a lefty who graduated from Bryant High School in 2005, earned a victory and belted a two-run homer, while the right-handed Wells, a 2010 BHS grad, finished with a no decision.

Both pitchers are in the Chicago Cubs organization.

Wood, who spent most of the last two seasons pitching in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds, is with the Cubs’ Triple A team, the Iowa Cubs, after having been traded from the Reds in the off-season.

On Tuesday, he made a start for Iowa against the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Triple A entry in the International League. Wood worked six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts. He left with Iowa leading 9-3.

Wood started by retiring the first 10 batters he faced with three strikeouts. He hit his homer to cap off a six-run third.

In the fourth, with the Cubs leading 8-0, he surrendered a one-out walk to Alex Castellanos for the Isotopes’ first base-runner. The next batter, Jerry Sands singled to center for their first hit. Wood got the second out on a pop up then Scott Van Slyke doubled in both runs.

He worked around a lead-off double in the fifth then gave up a run on a double, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly in the sixth. He finished his work on the night by striking out Van Slyke, the son of former Major League star Andy Van Slyke.

Iowa went on to win 10-6.

Wells pitches for the Peoria Chiefs of the Class A Midwest League after a season at low A Boise last year. In his first start on Tuesday against the Quad City River Bandits (St. Louis Cardinals), pitched four innings allowing three runs on seven hits. Only one of the runs was earned, however. He struck out three without a walk.

When he left Monday’s game, the Chiefs trailed 3-2 and though they came back to tie in the fifth, Quad Cities scored five times in the ninth to win 8-3.

Wells gave up a single in the first inning but induced a doubleplay ball to get out of the frame. He got his first strikeout to start the second but a two-out hit, a passed ball and an RBI single by David Medina tied the game 1-1.

After Peoria took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second, an error, a pair of hits and another doubleplay produced a second Quad Cities run.

The River Bandits took the lead in the fourth on a single, a one-out stolen base and a double. But Wells forced them to strand the runner at second by inducing a grounder to short and a pop to second.