Matt Chico adds new pitch, gets win for Harrisburg

Senators pitcher Matt Chico continues to work hard to get back to the Major Leagues and had a very good outing this week for Harrisburg at Reading, his first win of the season. I caught up with Matt this week and he talked about the conditions of his start and his new pitch, the two seam fastball. "I had no problems in the 40 degree weather. It is cold but you are warm. "It wasn't bad. It was one of those games where I like the result but I didn't feel good. One of those nights I had to just kind of battle with what I had. "I worked on two seam fastball more than I usually have been using it. "My location was 75 percent good and 25 percent ended up like those three wild pitches. I was just trying to find location. It is the second game in which I used a new grip on the two seamer. I feel better now than I did last game, but at the same time its still new. I am hoping for the best. "Yesterday I had good movement with it. I was happy with that. "My arm felt dead. If I tried to put something behind it, I had no clue where it was going. It felt like batting practice speed. "I was throwing the two seamer to both lefties and righties yesterday. Some were moving six or seven inches outside and two inches down. Sometimes it was like a split fingered fastball and it went straight down. "I am still working on the way to hold it. "I worked on it with Adam Carr and he showed it to me. Spin Williams showed me the same grip. I worked on it in bullpen for a long time. Then I brought it out in the start against New Britain and I went 6 innings, had good success. I have been working on it every day since." -------------------------- A very impressive outing Friday night for the Syracuse pitching staff in 2-1 win at Toledo. Andrew Kown (Starter, went 5 1/3 IP with 5 K, 4 hits and 0 runs), Jesse English (Win), Drew Storen (Hold), Doug Slaten (Hold) and Joel Peralta (Save) combined for nine innings, scattering eight hits, allowing one earned run and striking out seven Mud Hens. It was Storen's first appearance in Triple A, despite 3 hits, he didn't allow a run in 1 and 2/3rds.