Boyle (back) started Triple-A Las Vegas' loss to Sugar Land on Wednesday and fired 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing a hit and two walks while recording three strikeouts.
To label Boyle's start Wednesday an exponential improvement over his rehab debut last Thursday would be an understatement, considering the young right-hander didn't even record an out in that encounter with Triple-A Tacoma. Boyle was downright cruising in that context Wednesday, firing 25 of his 43 pitches for strikes -- and averaging 100.1 mph with his four-seamer per MLB.com -- during a much-needed confidence-building effort. Manager Mark Kotsay noted after the outing that Boyle felt as if he'd "turned a corner" with his back injury, but it remains to be seen if he'll get one more rehab outing before being activated.