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08/19/2008 12:03 AM ET
Jaxx's Woerman two-hits BayBears
Right-hander tosses first complete game of career in rain-shortened win
By Steve Conley / Special to MLB.com
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 Joe Woerman struggled in Triple-A Tacoma, but has fared well back with West Tenn. (Jason Wise/Getty Images)
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Even though his season hasn't gone the way he'd hoped, Joe Woerman took a big step toward turning things around Monday.
Woerman hurled the first complete game of his career to lead the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx to a 4-0 rain-shortened, six-inning win over the Mobile BayBears at Hank Aaron Stadium.
Woerman (1-2) allowed two hits, walked two and struck out one while retiring 10 of the final 12 batters he faced. In three starts with West Tenn this season, he has allowed just five earned runs over 19 innings, striking out 14 and walking four.
"I threw fastballs for the most part," he said. "I was hitting spots and got a couple of double plays. It seemed like I was out and back in the dugout pretty fast all night."
The game was called during the top of the seventh following a 30-minute rain delay. If not for Mother Nature, Woerman was confident he could have gone the distance.
"I absolutely felt I could have gone the whole way," he said. "I had at least two more innings in me. I wanted to try to get the real complete game, but there's nothing you can do about it."
After going 7-7 with a 3.74 ERA in 27 games -- 25 starts -- with the Diamond Jaxx in 2007, the 25-year-old right-hander spent much of this season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League. He struggled there, going 2-8 with a 7.47 ERA in 21 games, including 16 starts, before returning to the Southern League. He blamed the poor results partly on a lack of confidence.
"It was a different level there," Woerman said. "I let some outside things affect me and I was thinking too much. I got a couple of bad breaks which led to some disastrous results. I wish I could go back and change that, but it is what it is."
He may not be able to change those past results, but he isn't letting that disappointment prevent him from getting back to where he wants to be.
"Confidence is everything to me, and I think I've lacked it at times this year," he said. "If I give up a hard hit ball, I don't want to let that affect me. You need to have the conviction to make a pitch and follow the plan and not get off track."
Monday's performance might have Woerman headed in the right direction.
"I threw all my pitches well tonight and the results showed it," he said. "I feel like I'm back on the right track as far as reminding myself during the game what I need to do."
Erick Monzon, Thomas Hubbard and Adam Moore all homered in a four-batter span in the first and Gregory Halman went deep in the sixth for the Diamond Jaxx (24-33).
Mobile starter Adam Howard (7-7) allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking one over six innings.
Javier Brito and Gerardo Parra had the only hits for the BayBears (25-33).
Steve Conley is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
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