Martes fans seven in dominant Fall League outing

SURPRISE, Ariz. — After an impressive regular season, Francis Martes got off to a rocky start in the Arizona Fall League, but he turned it all around with a dominating effort on Monday.

The Astros’ No. 1 prospect spun 4 2/3 scoreless innings in Glendale’s 2-0 loss to Surprise at Surprise Stadium.

• Gameday

“My changeup was working,” Martes said via pitching coach Dernier Orozco. “That’s one of the things I’ve been working on. It was working today and my timing in my delivery was good.”

Glendale and Surprise were scoreless before the Saguaros finally broke through in the bottom half of the eighth as Nick Gordon (Twins’ No. 2, No. 47 overall) lined an RBI triple into the right-center-field gap and then scored two batters later via a double from Royals’ No. 7 prospect Ryan O’Hearn.

Martes, who gave up seven earned runs in 8 2/3 innings over his first three AFL starts, wasn’t sharp initially and walked Gordon on four pitches to open the game.

However, the No. 29 overall prospect quickly settled down and was lights out, throwing 45 …

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