Glasnow remains untouchable for Marauders

Tyler Glasnow was waiting for the handshakes.

He had pitched six innings for the third time this season and fifth time in his Minor League career, and it was about that time when he would receive the congratulations and pats on the back that signify the end of the outing.

But he got nothing.

"Coming back into the dugout after six innings, I'm so used to coaches asking 'How are you feeling?' or saying 'Nice job today,'" Glasnow said. "But they didn't saying anything. So I immediately thought, 'Oh, cool! I'll be able to pitch seven.' You always want to go back out there when you know you're doing well, but you don't always get the green light. It was awesome to get that."

So the 6-foot-7 right-hander trotted back out the mound for his seventh frame and did what he'd done the previous six and, really, this entire season. He dominated, getting three straight outs.

With that, Glasnow completed his latest gem. He allowed only one run on one hit and two walks while striking out six over the career-best seven innings for Class A Advanced Bradenton, which eventually fell, 2-1, to Palm Beach in 12 innings.

Even if he didn't know how (or when) his outing would come to a conclusion, Glasnow admitted he felt on his game before even throwing the first pitch.

"Honestly, I think it started in my bullpen session," he said. "I felt good getting out there the first time, and from there, it was all about just staying relaxed all the way up to the first inning. Even when I hit some command problems, I taking everything pitch by pitch, not getting ahead of myself, and was able to control things from there. I'd say keeping the same consistent mental approach was huge."

His only trouble came in the third and fourth frames.

After retiring the first six batters he faced, Glasnow, who sports a mid-90s fastball to go with an improving changeup and curveball, gave up a single to Bruce Caldwell in the third. Two outs later, he hit Charlie Tilson with a pitch before escaping by getting Ildemaro Vargas to ground out to second to end the threat.

The right-hander issued his only two walks of the afternoon to lead off the fourth, and that was followed by a sac bunt that put two men in scoring position with one out. Nick Martini managed a sacrifice fly to center for the Cardinals' lone run off Glasnow. He struck out Caldwell on three pitches -- all swinging -- to strand a man at third and faced the minimum nine through the last three frames of his stellar outing, finishing with 100 pitches (60 strikes).

Glasnow was allowed to pitch into the seventh because of a Bradenton team rule that a pitcher has to have a pair of six-inning outings before he can reach the seventh. Having hit that mark with his gem against Jupiter last Thursday, he was allowed to proceed and set his career high for innings pitched in a start.

Though the stat line was no doubt impressive, it did end Glasnow's streak of fourth straight scoreless starts. He last gave up a run May 22 against Daytona, a stretch that ran 28 innings in total between tallies.

As dominant a run as that was, the California native didn't feel much was different other than the amount of zeros in his game log.

"When I'm on a stretch like that, it doesn't change much for me," Glasnow said. "Each start has its own difficulties, and knowing that, I have to do my best to stay calm no matter what. It's not like I'm going in saying, 'I can't give up a run today, blah, blah, blah.'

"I'm not going to put up zeros the rest of my career. So when it ends, it's always better to give up only one run than 10."

Through 11 starts (55 2/3 innings) in the Florida State League, he is 4-3 with a 1.62 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 61 strikeouts and a .148 average-against. He's somehow been able to match or even better his breakout season at Class A West Virginia in 2013, when he went 9-3 with a 2.18 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 111 1/3 innings in his first full season since being selected in the fifth round of the 2011 Draft.

Though there have been some control concerns -- he's averaged 5.2 walks per nine innings this season -- his 2014 stats are generally numbers that get top-quality pitchers like Glasnow a look at a promotion, even if he did miss a good part of April with a back injury. That's something he'll leave to the Bucs' front office, though.

"Wherever I am, all I can do is pitch," he said. "I haven't thought anything about a promotion because I'm too focused on what I'm doing here and what I need to improve on to do even better in my next start. Right now, that's going to be here, so that's how I look at it."