Considering he had withstood a long day in airports, followed by the climactic shock of moving from Florida to Michigan, that stream of strikeouts Friday night was even more stunning.
The first nine outs Matt Manning racked up against the Great Lakes Loons at Dow Diamond in Midland came on either a swing and a miss or a called third strike.
He added a 10th strikeout in the fourth inning, all before his Travelocity schedule caught up with him and he wore down, which was understood by West Michigan manager Lance Parrish, who watched as a Tigers first-round pick in 2016 threw pitches that buried Single A hitters.