By John Bohnenkamp
Cauy Massner and Jake Curtis put on a show of pitching efficiency.
Massner, the starter for the Burlington Bees, and Curtis, the starter for the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, got outs and went deep into Monday’s Prospect League game at Community Field.
Curtis was just a little better.
Springfield’s 5-1 win was done in just 2 hours, 9 minutes, thanks to two pitchers who didn’t mess around.
“It was just a good baseball game, a good old-fashioned baseball game right there,” Bees manager Owen Oreskovich said.
Massner (0-2) went the longest of any Bees starter this season, throwing 87 pitches — 60 for strikes — in seven innings.
Curtis (1-0) went eight innings, throwing 96 pitches, 67 for strikes. The Prospect League pitch limit is 95, but pitchers are allowed to finish throwing to the hitter they’re facing when they reach that point.
At a time of the season when off-days are rare — the Bees play 20 consecutive games after Tuesday’s day off — the length of a start a pitcher can give can make a difference.
Massner gave up four runs and eight hits, but retired six of the last seven hitters he faced, picking off Payton Pennington for the second out of the seventh when Pennington took off for third base while Massner was getting ready to throw a pitch.
“He might be the first kid we had go seven (innings) this year,” Oreskovich said. “He did a great job. Just left some 0-2 pitches where he shouldn’t have, and they didn’t miss on them. That’s all right, that’s baseball.”
The Lucky Horseshoes (15-21 overall, 3-2 second half) scored a run in the second when Peter Jelenic hit a leadoff triple and scored on Nasir Frederick’s sacrifice fly. Jacob Compton’s two-run double in the third pushed the lead to 3-0.
The Bees (14-22, 3-2) got their only run in the fourth on Marcos Sanchez’s home run, his third in the last two games.
Dayton Nevar’s double scored Compton with Springfield’s fourth run, then the Lucky Horseshoes got a run in the ninth when Johnny Colombo’s single scored Frederick.
Curtis allowed just three hits and struck out two.
“We made contact, they just weren’t falling,” Oreskovich said.
ON DECK: The Bees play at Lafayette in a 6 p.m. game on Wednesday to start a five-game road trip.
Photo: Bees pitcher Cauy Massner went seven innings in Monday’s loss. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)
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