Romano emerges victorious in pitchers' duel

After being involved in numerous pitching battles this season, Sal Romano has figured out how to handle them.

"My goal is don't be the first one to break," he said. "Don't be the first one to give up a run. My dad (Sal Sr.) and I talked about that all the time. When you're in a pitchers' duel, just keep throwing up zeros, be confident and keep going out there."

Cincinnati's No. 17 prospect yielded two hits without a walk while striking out six over eight shutout innings Tuesday as Double-A Pensacola beat visiting Jacksonville, 5-2.

The 22-year-old right-hander outlasted the Suns' Matt Tomshaw, who was also scoreless into the sixth.

"I was able to throw all my pitches, but I really felt like I relied on my fastball because I had that sink that I like," Romano said. "I felt like the last two outings, I really depended on my curveball. So I tried to back it off a little bit and go back to my fastball and let my sinking fastball work."

Video: Pensacola's Romano gets through the eighth

He retired his first 14 batters before allowing a single to Peter Mooney. The only other Suns player to reach base against Romano was Garrett Weber, who singled to lead off the eighth inning.

"After I gave up the hit, I was from the stretch the entire time, so I really needed to make pitches," Romano said. "I fell behind a little bit and my ball started to elevate a little bit more than it was all game, but I was able to make my pitches and the guys were able to make the plays for me."

The Blue Wahoos offense broke through against Tomshaw in the bottom of the sixth, but that didn't alter the New York native's mind-set the rest of the way.

"I was just able to keep doing what I was doing, attacking with my fastball and get early swings in the count," Romano said. "I felt like I was very efficient every inning. I was working all my pitches but attacking with my fastball and getting the strikeouts when they came."

It marked the latest dominant outing for the 2011 23rd-round pick. He pitched seven three-hit innings July 12 against Biloxi, flirted with a perfect game against Montgomery on July 29 and matched Atlanta's No. 20 prospect Max Povse with eight scoreless innings on Aug. 20.

"I think the key, first of all, is not putting so much pressure on myself," Romano said. "I think just going out there and trusting my stuff is No. 1. Then relying on my defense to make my plays and trusting my fastball is another thing.

"I don't need to try to strike everybody out, strikeouts will come. I just need to pitch my game, mix all my pitches, be a pitcher and not a thrower. I think that's the biggest difference in the second half as to why I've been successful."

Jacob Ehret got two outs in the ninth but surrendered two runs on three hits and a walk before Carlos Gonzalez retired Mooney on a popup for his eighth save of the season.

Tomshaw (3-4) allowed four runs on four hits and four walks with nine strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

Sebastian Elizalde led the Blue Wahoos with three hits, while Ray Chang and Joe Hudson drove in two runs apiece.