Jeff Francis continues to dominate the minor leagues. On Saturday night the big leaguer with 70 career wins was on it again.
Stationed at Louisville to being the season, Francis has had no trouble with Triple-A lineups. Facing the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh’s affiliate) the 33-year-old left hander recorded 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of work allowing two runs on seven hits while giving up two walks.
The 10 strikeouts by Francis is the most he has had in a game since September 18, 2007 when he was pitching for the Colorado Rockies against the Los Angeles Dodgers. For much of the night he followed the Indians with a changeup that dipped as low as 67 mph on the stadium scoreboard.
Francis lost out on a spot in the Reds rotation this spring to Alfredo Simon. It is hard to argue with the Reds decision to start Simon as their fifth starter after three big league outings he is 2-1 with a 0.86 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP.
Louisville won the game 4-2 against Indianapolis.
