FAYETTEVILLE — Former Arkansas pitcher DJ Baxendale earned his first career minor league win on Tuesday.
The right-hander from Jacksonville pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his first start with the Fort Meyers (Fla.) Miracle. Baxendale struck out eight batters, allowed just two hits and issued one walk.
Baxendale, who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 10th round of last year's draft, has turned heads with his performances in Florida. In a spring training game on March 24, Baxendale struck out eight of the nine batters he faced and threw only one pitch that was called a ball.
"I will be very surprised if he does not move fast in the organization," wrote an unnamed blogger on a Twins fan blog called 'The Tenth Inning Stretch' after the game. "This was one of the single most dominating pitching performances I have ever seen at any level of play. It was as if a major leaguer was pitching against Rookie league kids."
Fort Meyers is home of the Twins' advanced-A league team.