Drabek’s 51s debut turns wild in hurry

Sent down to Triple A to regain his command and cut down on his walks, Kyle Drabek did neither Sunday in his 51s debut at Cashman Field.

The Blue Jays' top prospect, Drabek walked the first batter he faced on four pitches and things didn't get much better from there in a 12-9 loss to the Reno Aces.

The right-hander issued a season-high seven walks and allowed five runs on eight hits in four innings. He threw 106 pitches, 55 for strikes, before departing with the score tied 5-5.

"I had a game plan of coming here, making sure I threw strikes," said Drabek, who leads the major leagues with 52 walks (against 48 strikeouts). "I know I need to get ahead, but it's just been a struggle trying to find that."

Drabek battled from behind throughout his first Triple-A start, allowing the leadoff batter to reach base in all four innings.

After walking Evan Frey to start the game, he gave up an RBI double to Collin Cowgill on a 2-1 pitch as Reno took a quick 1-0 lead.

He then walked Brandon Allen on five pitches and allowed a broken-bat RBI single to Wily Mo Pena that made it 2-0.

Drabek walked Cody Ransom on a full count before retiring the next two batters. But he had no play on Lucas May's slow roller in front of the mound that gave the Aces a 3-0 edge.

Hallberg, Reno's ninth batter, grounded out to shortstop to end the first. A visibly frustrated Drabek threw 33 pitches, 15 for strikes, in the inning.

"I'm continuing to have trouble locating my fastball. Without being able to locate that, I'm relying on my other pitches maybe too much," the 23-year-old said.

Acquired from the Phillies before last season in the Roy Halladay trade, Drabek walked Hallberg to load the bases in the third, then gave up an RBI sacrifice fly to Frey that tied it at 4-all. In the fourth, he loaded the bases on a walk and two singles, then walked Greene as the Aces tied the game 5-5.

"Every pitch is how I want it to be. It's just the location of them I need to get down," said Drabek, who is 4-5 with a 5.70 ERA in 14 starts this season for Toronto.

51s pitching coach Tom Signore, who worked with Drabek last year at Double-A New Hampshire, said he spotted some flaws in his delivery.

"I've been around him enough to see some things that are out of whack, and we'll do our best to fix them," Signore said. "I'm confident we'll get him back to where he was."

Reno (41-30) scored five runs in the eighth inning off 51s left-hander Rommie Lewis to erase a 9-7 deficit.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.