Contreras, however, wasn’t thinking about a possible result because those thoughts, he says, are to blame for his failures to produce hits. So he focused on his process and approach, saw a pitch he liked, swung, and finally got the result he and everyone wanted: an RBI triple down the right-field line that fell in front of the right-fielder and skipped past him.
“I was really just trying to put something in play, make something happen,” Contreras said. “And trying not to think too much and hopefully things go well.”
Things went well for Contreras and the Dragons throughout the game. The entire team made the plays and pitches and got the hits they needed for a 4-0 victory over West Michigan after two troubling losses to begin the series.
Hands all over the stadium came together to celebrate Contreras. But no hands impacted after the triple with more energy than the double high-five between Contreras and manager Vince Harrison when Contreras got to third.
“That was such a relief for him, but one of the coolest things was just to watch the reaction of his teammates because he’s been professional,” Harrison said. “And my hands are still stinging from the double high five, but I’m all for that.”
Contreras has struck out 18 times, but Harrison said a line drive and a couple of outs on the warning track last week showed Contreras was getting close.
“It’s just staying focused on the process and not trying to find results,” Contreras said. “Starting the season I was focused on results, results, results. And that’s what got me in this jam.”
The reason players are prone to think results and try too hard is obvious to Contreras.
“It’s a game, and you want to succeed,” he said.
The Dragons (10-14) succeeded every way possible to win for the fourth time since starting the season 6-5. Starting pitcher Kevin Abel, a seventh-round pick from Oregon State in 2021, set the tone with six scoreless innings. He allowed two hits, a walk and struck out seven in his best outing as a pro.
“I threw strikes when they didn’t want to swing and didn’t throw strikes when they wanted to swing,” Abel said. “That’s pretty much it.”
More precisely, Abel effectively mixed his fastball, slider, change-up and curve. And he knew when to get the Whitecaps (10-14) to chase pitches off the plate and when to throw strikes.
“They’re an aggressive swinging team — we knew that — and I just tried to use that to my advantage,” Abel said. “They tried coming out early on and being a little more patient, and then I think they just went back to doing what they do.”
And while the Dragons were playing errorless ball and not giving the Whitecaps free stuff like they did in Wednesday’s 10-inning loss, the Whitecaps returned the favor.
Cam Collier reached on an error in the second and scored on Cade Hunter’s single. Jay Allen II singled in the third, went to third on Hector Rodriguez’s double and scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead. Victor Acosta was hit by a pitch and scored on Contreras’ triple, and Contreras scored the final run on a wild pitch.
The Dragons have led in 10 of their previous 11 games, but Thursday’s win is only their fourth during that span and snapped a three-game losing streak. The bullpen’s struggles have been obvious, but this time Graham Osman, Pedro Alfonseca and Luis Mey each pitched a scoreless inning and combined to allow only two hits.
“As a pitching staff, I think we’ve let them down a couple times,” Abel said. “And it was good as a pitching staff to hold that lead, get the shutout and show them that we can do this.”
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