By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Another eventful season for major-league pitcher Zack Littell of Mebane came to a close last week.
Littell was the starter for the Cincinnati Reds in what became their season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a National League wild card series in Los Angeles.
Littell was charged with three runs on six hits, including three doubles, in 3 1/3 innings of an eventual 8-4 setback. The Dodgers won both games in the series to advance.
Littell, an Eastern Alamance alum who turned 30 on Sunday, is expected to receive considerable interest as a free agent during the offseason.
Littell was traded in late July from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Reds, who became his fifth big-league team. He compiled a career-high win total with a 10-8 record and 3.81 earned run average.
The Reds won the final four regular-season games when Littell was the starting pitcher. Cincinnati secured the last postseason position with a National League wild card on the final day of the regular season, leaving the New York Mets out of the playoffs.
In 10 regular-season starts for Cincinnati, he had a 2-0 record and 4.39 earned run average in 53 1/3 innings. For the entire regular season, he threw a career-high 186 2/3 innings, recording 130 strikeouts and 32 walks.
