By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Pitcher Zack Littell of Mebane had a marvelous May for the Washington Nationals.
Littell went 5-0 in six outings, capped by Sunday afternoon’s stint against the visiting San Diego Padres.
After a rough April, Littell found a groove. That included victories against the Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Cleveland Guardians, and the Padres.
Littell gave up 13 home runs in 26 2/3 innings combined in March and April. But in May in 30 2/3 innings, he surrendered only two long balls. Littell’s ERA in May checked in at 2.35.
The right-hander threw a season-long seven innings with a season-high seven strikeouts last week against the Guardians. On Sunday, Littell took a shutout into the seventh inning against the Padres.
“Overall, I thought he threw the ball great,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said during his postgame news conference.
With victories in his last five decisions, he takes a 5-4 record and 5.01 earned run average into his next scheduled start Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
He’s halfway to last year’s 10-win mark that was achieved in time with the Tampa Bay Rays and Cincinnati Reds.
Littell is a 2013 Eastern Alamance graduate.
