Starter Weber has good outing, but ’Topes fall
He’s played for 14 teams over 10 professional seasons.
And for 6 innings Wednesday night, Thad Weber looked right at home on the mound in Isotopes Park.
And, even though the Isotopes had a total meltdown late after Weber left the game in the seventh inning, losing to the El Paso Chihuahuas 6-5, the 32-year-old journeyman starter walked out of Isotopes Park Wednesday night knowing he had pitched his best game of the season.
“It felt good. I haven’t been out there in awhile,” said Weber, whose last start was May 22. “But it felt real good to get us in a position for a win. I felt a lot better pace — a lot better rhythm.”
Weber left the game in the seventh inning with a 5-1 lead, much to the delight of the announced crowd of 7,136.
The ’Topes allowed five runs over the final three innings and were unable to score with a runner on third with less than two outs four times in that span (they had bases loaded no outs in the seventh and eighth and a leadoff triple in the ninth, all without driving in a run).
Nevertheless, the Nebraska native gave the organization one bright spot.
Weber’s final line of 6 innings, his longest outing of the season, included two earned runs (a run was credited to him after
he left the game), five hits and no walks. He struck out five. His ERA dropped from 7.00 to 6.00.
“When he’s commanding the ball,” Isotopes manager Glenallen Hill said, “putting it where he wants to, and he has a pretty good idea of what he wants to ... he gets good results.”
Among Weber’s 14 professional teams were three stints in the big leagues: 4 innings with the Detroit Tigers in 2012, and a combined 15 innings split between the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays in 2013.
In the four years since, his road back to the majors has taken him through Tucson; Buffalo, N.Y.; Toledo, Ohio; Erie, Pa.; Changwon, South Korea; and now Albuquerque.
Weber was signed by the Colorado Rockies on May 12 after being released in spring training by the Detroit Tigers. He spent more than a month between contracts — time he says wore on him.
“Days creep by and you start to miss competing and being around the clubhouse and being around the guys,” Weber said. “If you would have told me when I got in the game 10 years ago that I was going to play for this long, I would have told you that you were wrong. I’ve certainly been fortunate to play everywhere I’ve been.”
SON OF A GUN: While dad was working on the mound, Gehrig Weber, Thad Weber’s son, was working for the Isotopes’ grounds crew. While wearing a No. 44 Isotopes jersey like his dad, Gehrig took part in a between-innings promotion in which he sprinted around the infield and helped change out third base for the grounds crew.
HOUSE CALL: La Cueva High School graduate and former University of New Mexico pitcher Austin House recorded his first professional hit, a single to center field, after coming in to relieve Weber and being allowed to take an at bat in the bottom of the seventh, just his second professional at bat.