Despite suffering his team-high 11th defeat of the season, the 22-year old lefty learned something the hard way in the Boll Weevils’ 4-2 loss to visiting Hickory.

‘‘You can’t do what I did and expect to win,’’ Kubes said at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, where fifth-place Piedmont (57-58 overall) dropped to 21-23 in the second half. ‘‘I was leaving the ball up in the strike zone. They weren’t killing me, but they put the ball in play and found some holes.’’

Kubes (10-11) turned in a Jeckyll & Hyde performance. Over the first three innings he allowed seven hits – all of them singles – and watched as last-place Hickory (53-62, 18-27) built a 4-0 lead. He proceeded to retire nine of 10 batters over the next three stanzas, permitting only infield hits by Shaun Skrehot and Jovanny Sosa, who was promptly picked off.

‘‘I think he hurt himself early in the game,’’ said Piedmont pitching coach Carlos Arroyo. ‘‘The times he was ahead in the count he made bad pitches. Everything was up – his fastball, his curve and the change-up. Once we were down four runs, well, we’re not a powerhouse team. We have a tough time coming back.’’

Weevils’ catcher Eric Schreimann was both sympathetic and critical of Kubes. ‘‘You throw a change-up in the zone and guys are gonna hit it,’’ he said. ‘‘To them, it’s like a batting practice fastball. But after the third (inning) he threw really well. He kept his pitches down and had better location. When he did that, he beat everybody.’’

Kubes chalked it up to experience.

‘‘I feel like I learned something tonight,’’ he said. ‘‘First was my mechanics on my fastball. I was rushing the ball to the plate and leaving my arm behind. And my curve I wasn’t really breaking over the top. I was cutting it instead. But hey, it’s like riding a horse. If you’re gonna ride, you gotta learn to fall. And when you learn something, I guess it doesn’t seem like such a bad outing.’’

After a slow start, Piedmont’s offense was up and running against winning pitcher Luis Torres (1-1). The 19-year old right-hander denied the Weevils a hit until Schreimann’s one-out double in the last of the fourth. Piedmont got on the scoreboard in the sixth when Alejandro Giron reached on a check-swing infield hit and moved to second on Schreimann’s single to right. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and Giron scored on a sacrifice fly by Shayne Carnes.

Piedmont plated its final run and threatened to score more in the last of the ninth. Carnes reached on a leadoff error and DH Jeremy Salazar drove him home with a double to left-center against reliever Matt Buirley. Newcomer Will Polidor advanced the runner to third with a groundout before Brian Bush struck out. After Uriel Casillas drew a two-out walk, Jason Johnson, representing the potential winning run, flew out to deep center.

‘‘We’re a streaky team,’’ said Schreimann. ‘‘We have good days and bad days. We’ll come out and get 12 hits one day and then four or five the next.’’

It’s become a routine mystery for the Weevils, one that manager Ken Oberkfell is growing weary of. ‘‘Good teams find ways to win,’’ he said. ‘‘But I’m not gonna lie to you. Right now we’re not a very good team.’’