After a quick promotion from Class A Cedar Rapids, Lay Batista took a little time to get comfortable in his new surroundings. On Tuesday, he certainly seemed right at home.

The Angels right-hander allowed just two hits over a career-high eight innings in leading the Class A Advanced Inland Empire 66ers to a 2-0 win over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Batista struck out three in the outing while issuing one walk.

"I was very happy because I was able to go out and do the job for the team," he said through a translator.

Batista worked a perfect first inning before the Quakes' Austin Gallagher led off the second with a single to second baseman Taylor Lindsey. The 22-year-old allowed Rancho Cucamonga's only other hit three batters later, when Michael Pericht singled on a soft fly ball to center field.

Batista retired 18 straight after that until finally yielding a walk to Chris Jacobs with two outs in the eighth. He generated seven groundouts during that stretch and 11 total in the game.

"I work down and I like to work with the two-seamer," Batista said. "I start it down and let them hit it down. I also like to pitch inside to keep them honest."

Ryan Chaffee walked two but didn't allow a hit in the ninth as he secured his seventh save of the year.

Signed as a non-drafted free agent on June 11, 2007, Batista compiled a 4.04 ERA in 14 games (12 starts) for the Arizona League Angels last year. He started this year with the Kernels, but made only two relief appearances for them before getting called up to Inland Empire to start.

The native of the Dominican Republic scuffled initially, surrendering 15 earned runs in his first 13 2/3 innings (9.88 ERA), but has been much better since. In his last five starts, he has given up just five earned runs over 32 2/3 frames (1.38 ERA).

Batista said the issue was not the better play, but just the new settings around him.

"They moved me up pretty quickly, it was a drastic change," Batista said. "I'm getting more comfortable as I spend more time here. Brandon Emanuel, our pitching coach, has been helping me out a lot.

"It's not really about the difficulty. It's about being comfortable and having more confidence on the mound."

And how confident is he now?

"100 percent," he said.

Though he is still far away from the Majors, Batista is mindful of his ultimate goal as he progresses through the Angels' system. Focusing on a slider specifically, he is trying to develop the arsenal and control he needs for the highest level.

"I want to keep working towards the big leagues no matter what it takes," he said. "Keep working hard, work on the slider and two-seamer, keeping it down and throwing strikes."