C.J. Wilson's return to central Arkansas Monday night was much better than the last appearance he made 11 years ago.
Despite a rocky start.
Wilson, a starter on the Los Angeles Angels' staff, logged 5 1/3 innings on a rehab assignment at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock and picked up the victory as the Travs' beat the Northwest Arkansas Travelers 9-3.
Wilson, a left-hander who has been on the disabled list since July 10 with a sprained right ankle, gave up a first-inning single to Justin Trapp, who came around to score, then yielded a home run to Trapp in the third. Otherwise, Wilson held the Naturals to 2 hits while striking out 7and throwing 49 of his 91 pitches for strikes.
The final five batters Wilson faced were retired, including Cheslor Cuthbert, who struck out on a high fastball for the first out of the sixth to end Wilson's stint.
Arkansas Manager Phillip Wellman relieved Wilson at that point, and Wilson exited the field to a standing ovation from the announced crowd of 4,473.
Wilson, 8-6 with a 4.33 ERA on the season, will rejoin the Angels for a series at Baltimore that begins tonight and said he feels ready to retake his spot in the rotation.
"The first inning was kind of what I would expect after not having pitched for three weeks, and after that I got on a good roll," Wilson said. "I feel like the [Angels are] going to look at the velocity, the balls and strikes and the line score, but I'm looking at the feel, the depth of the breaking ball and the sharpness."
Wilson made himself comfortable in his one day as a Traveler, too, becoming the first Angels player to start a game for the team since the Travs and Angels began an affiliation in 2001. Angels relievers Sean Burnett and Dane De La Rosa each spent time with the Travs earlier this season, and reliever Robert Coello did last season, but none had done so as a starter.
Wilson arrived in town Sunday and went to the River Market, where he ordered a turkey sandwich from the Flying Saucer and had a smoothie. He arrived at Dickey-Stephens on Monday afternoon, and re-acquainted himself with Travelers who were in big-league camp during spring training and introduced himself to those he didn't know.
Even after he was pulled with one out in the sixth inning, Wilson watched another inning from the dugout and cheered on his teammates, some of whom received nicknames. Shortstop Eric Stamets, for example, was "The Stampede," catcher Jett Bandy said.
"He stayed to cheer us on and was pumping us up," Bandy said. "It's always cool coming from a guy like that, it was really cool having him around."
Bandy was the recipient of a pitch from Wilson he didn't expect to see Monday. After Trapp singled in the first and homered in the third, Wilson said he figured the Naturals' center fielder was looking for a fastball. So when Trapp stepped to the plate in the fifth, Wilson shook his glove at Bandy, a sign that Wilson wanted to throw a knuckleball.
Wilson did, Trapp swung and missed before striking out, and Wilson retired the final two batters he faced.
"It was one of the best ones I've ever seen in my life," Bandy said. "I dropped it, but it was really good."
Once Wilson left, the Travs added a run in the seventh and three in the eighth on Kaleb Cowart's triple while winning their third consecutive game and providing Wilson with a better exit from central Arkansas than his last.
Wilson last pitched in Arkansas on July 25, 2003, a 22-year-old prospect in the Texas Rangers organization. He started that night for the Frisco RoughRiders at Ray Winder Field and gave up two runs in four innings of a loss. He didn't pitch again that season, instead having Tommy John surgery while missing all of the 2004 season.
This time, his visit to Arkansas came at the end of an injury instead of the beginning, included a victory and a good impression before heading back to work with the Angels.
"I don't want to be the guy that comes down and is like 'Oh, whatever,' " Wilson said. "I want to have fun, this is baseball, I want these guys to have fun, and I want to win. And I know these guys are in the playoff race. So I don't want to cough it up, that would be terrible."
Sports on 07/29/2014