Fabio is fabulous in Kernels win

CEDAR RAPIDS - Fabio Martinez knows what he needs to work on most. He shares the frustration fans sometimes get when they watch him pitch.

“It drives me crazy thinking about it,” Martinez said.

It's control that the Cedar Rapids Kernels right-hander has issues with. He'll be sailing along in games, striking out guys left and right with as good of raw stuff as you'll see - a live middle-90s fastball and late-breaking slider.

Then all of a sudden it'll be ball four, ball four and a peck of trouble.

“He's showing flashes,” Kernels Manager Bill Mosiello said after Martinez and the Kernels beat Clinton, 5-3, Friday night before 2,548 fans at Memorial Stadium. “He's definitely improving. They still swing at a lot of pitches that they shouldn't swing at, that good hitters won't as he moves up. But it's one step at a time with him.”

A 20-year-old from the Dominican Republic, Martinez (5-2) gave up five hits and struck out 11 in six innings. He walked just two, following a start at Peoria last week in which he issued just one free pass.

He also threw 110 pitches in those six innings, an indication of a lot of deep counts. Martinez leads the Midwest League in walks and strikeouts.

There's that frustration thing again.

“It's both mechanical and mental,” said Martinez, through teammate Ricky Alvarez. “It's like I'm getting focused and seeing the pitch before I'm throwing it. I get it in my mind that I'm going to throw a strike.”

If he ever gets his control under control, the parent Los Angeles Angels have a guy who is a potential front-of-the-rotation starter.

“It's just that simple, trying to overthrow sometimes,” Mosiello said. “If he can keep his head still (during his delivery), he's fine. He can do it in the bullpen. It's just when you go out in a game, you (sometimes) try to do too much.

The Kernels (47-29, 4-4 second half) took advantage of five Clinton errors to win. They scored three go-ahead runs in the sixth, including RBI hits from Matt Long and Jose Jimenez.

The teams play again Saturday night at 6:30.

Here is video of managers of both teams (Bill Mosiello/Cedar Rapids and John Tamargo/Clinton) arguing with home plate umpire Chris Hguyen after sixth-inning calls went against their respective teams.