THE 11TH PITCH Justin De Fratus threw last night was a 92-mph fastball that was delivered just above belt-high and on the outer half of the strike zone. It was not where Cameron Rupp's glove was set up, low and and on the other side of the plate.
Instead, it was the kind of pitch you might have your buddy throw you while in the middle of a Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby during a midsummer barbecue. And De Fratus, who has been hard at work tinkering with mechanics in what's been a lost season, knew it pretty much a second after it left his right hand.