Rookie Rzepczynski continues to impress

Rookie lefty Marc Rzepczynski has a great last name. His surname is also incredibly hard to spell. Well now he's proving to be a great pitcher that is incredibly hard to hit off of. Tuesday in Seattle, Mr. R turned in a fine performance that was better than the final stat line suggests.

After giving up a run in the first inning and running into trouble in the 2nd frame, Rzepczynski settled down, retiring 11 batters in a row, whiffing 7 of them, striking out the side in the 4th inning. Rzepczynski winded up leaving after 8 strike outs (setting a career high) in 5.1 innings of work, where he allowed three earned runs.

The 2007 fifth round pick has shown a great ability to pitch at the big league level, in particular displaying his talent for striking out batters. While not factoring into the decision in this one, his 8 K's Tuesday gives him 30 over the course of 27.2 innings in his first five starts in his major league career.