Allen Webster didn’t get the result he wanted Friday afternoon in his Chattanooga Lookouts debut. But the hard-throwing right-handed pitcher was on more than he was off in five innings of work at AT&T Field.
In the first game of a doubleheader, Webster allowed three runs on two hits, with five strikeouts and three walks, in a 5-0 loss to the Huntsville Stars. The Stars also won the second game, 2-1.
“I had great defense and everything behind me, but the walks hurt me,” he said.
Rated the No. 5 prospect in the Dodgers’ organization by Baseball America – the publication also rates his changeup the best among all Dodgers pitching prospects – Webster was called up to the Lookouts (24-24) from High-A Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday.
He was slated to start that night, but his debut had to wait 22 hours because of a rainout.
Stars starter Dan Merklinger had the upper hand on the mound, throwing five scoreless innings. He gave up four hits and struck out six.
Webster’s Lookouts career did not get off to an auspicious start. He walked Lee Haydel on four pitches to open the game, then committed an error on a pickoff throw to first, which allowed Haydel to take second base.
Haydel was standing on third moments later, following a Webster wild pitch in the dirt.
“After the first batter I settled down for the next three innings but then started the fourth off with a walk,” said Webster, who was 5-2 with a 2.33 ERA in nine starts for Rancho Cucamonga, with 62 strikeouts and 21 walks in 54 innings.
Huntsville (24-23) didn’t get a hit off Webster until the fourth inning, when the Stars scored two runs on two hits. They added another run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.
The Lookouts’ other new pitcher, lefty Wilkin De La Rosa – he also joined the club on Thursday – worked 1 2/3 innings. After a one-out walk in the seventh, he gave up an RBI triple to make it 4-0 Stars.
The Lookouts were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, while the Stars were slightly better at 2-for-12.
In the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, the Stars led 2-1 after the first inning and that score held up the rest of the way. Nathan Eovaldi allowed five hits and one earned run and struck out eight in five innings for the Lookouts.