Pucheu likes that approach and has taken that advice as a long reliever and now as a starter since June 23.
“Sometimes in that starter role you want to save a little in the tank, and he’s just like, ‘Hey, give me everything you’ve got whether it’s 50 pitches or a hundred pitches,’” Pucheu said of Garman.
Pucheu had 75 pitches to work with Tuesday night, and he walked off the mound after 67 pitches in six innings knowing his tank was empty. He fueled the Dragons to a 2-1 victory over West Michigan, allowing one run, five hits, no walks and striking out five.
Pucheu made his third start since Graham Ashcraft was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga. Pucheu has a 1.26 ERA and has allowed two earned runs in his three starts. Tuesday was his longest outing.
Pucheu’s curveballs, sliders and changeups in the 70s found the strike zone often and got lots of swings and misses at pitches off the plate. His fastball topped out at 89. On other nights his fastball hits 92. He said he is able to adjust to whatever the speed is on his fastball.
“The velo was not there tonight, but I had the off-speed stuff working early,” Pucheu said. “Biggest thing for me was being able to get ahead. Previous starts and outings I was behind, working to fight back all the time.”
Working ahead was reflected in the pitch count. In his first start, he went four innings on 67 pitches. In his second start, he went 4 1/3 innings on 75 pitches.
“The adjustment, if we compare the last two outings, he was able to attack the zone and get ahead in the count and mix his pitches to keep the hitters off balance,” Dragons manager Jose Moreno said.
Pucheu’s only mistake was the first pitch of the third inning. Cooper Johnson hit a fastball off the batters’ eye on center for his first home run.
“I got kind of complacent,” Pucheu said. “First and second inning I was rolling really well and just grooved a fastball, and he did what he should do to a pitch like that.”
The Dragons scored first when Mike Siani was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second. Mariel Bautista answered Johnson’s homer in the fourth with an estimated 458-foot blast to left over the concession stand and onto Monument Avenue. The 2-1 lead was enough for Pucheu and two relievers.
Roster move: Right-handed reliever Jesse Stallings, a 15th-round pick in 2016 out of LSU, returned to the Dragons for the third time Tuesday and pitched two scoreless innings in relief. Stallings, 27, threw one scoreless inning for the Reds’ rookie team in the Arizona Complex League before his callup. He pitched for the Dragons in 2017 and 2019. In 2017, Stallings had a 4.57 ERA in 63 innings. In 2019, he threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in Dayton and made it all the way to Double-A Chattanooga after a strong showing in Daytona. His career ERA is 4.26 with 16 saves.
Struggling: Outfielder Jacob Hurtubise was out of the leadoff spot Tuesday for the first time since Brian Rey was promoted to Chattanooga in late May. Hurtubise batted .176 with no extra-base hits during the past two-week road trip. Hurtubise started the road trip batting over .300. His average has dipped to .279, but he still maintains a team-leading .426 on-base percentage. On Tuesday, Hurtubise batted seventh and went 1-for-4. Siani batted lead-off and was 0-for-2 and reached base twice.
About the Author