Carlos Estevez needed just five pitches on Thursday to retire the side during the eighth inning of the Colorado Rockies’ 7-5 win over the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Ariz. The scoreless inning lowered his ERA for the spring to 2.45 and he has now struck out six in 3.2 innings of work.
The 26-year-old right-hander touched 98 mph in Monday’s impressive ninth-inning performance against the Texas Rangers, showing plenty of movement on his fastball and good location. He followed that with the same kind of performance on Thursday, throwing three heaters down the middle and right past Chicago’s Trent Giambrone for the first out of the frame.