Blackburn spins 8 2/3 strong frames

Ever since Clayton Blackburn was a young boy, he has dreamed about one day making it to the Major Leagues. He knows there's still a lot of work to be done to make it a reality, but nights like Tuesday remind him that he's on the right path.

San Francisco's No. 11 prospect scattered four hits and a walk while striking out six batters over a career-high 8 2/3 innings in the Class A Augusta GreenJackets' 1-0 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

The 19-year-old right-hander has now spun 22 consecutive scoreless innings since allowing a first-inning run against the Rome Braves on May 23.

"I'm just like every other guy," Blackburn said. "I'm trying to get to the Major Leagues, that's what I've always dreamed about. Since I was 4 or 5 years old playing baseball by myself on the playground, that's all I've wanted. It would mean more than words can describe. It would be a dream come true."

Blackburn (2-2) worked around a two-out bunt single down the third-base line in the first inning, before going on to retire the next 10 batters he faced.

Ryan Rieger doubled to lead off the fifth frame to snap the streak of consecutive outs, but Blackburn used a pair of ground-ball outs and a strikeout to keep the shutout intact.

After a 1-2-3 sixth, Blackburn yielded a one-out single to Matt Smith followed by a walk to Riegler in the seventh. It was the first time the GreenJackets had multiple baserunners against the right-hander, who rolled a 6-4-3 double play to extinguish the threat.

"It was really big. I threw a good pitch in on the hands and the infield made a big double play behind me," said Blackburn, who threw 102 pitches. "It gave me the momentum to get through the rest of the game.

"I felt pretty good. I moved the fastball in and out and I was using both sides of the plate. I mixed in my changeup to keep them off balance and I threw my curveball for strikes."

Blackburn then worked a perfect eighth and set down the first two batters of the ninth. But when Brent Keys singled on a base hit to center field, Augusta manager Lipso Nava came out of the dugout and called on Kyle Vazquez out of the bullpen.

"[Vazquez] told me that it broke his heart to have to do this and that he didn't want to, but at the Minor League level they want to see you do well but also protect your arm.

"Going into the ninth inning he said that if I put a guy on base they would come and get me, so I kinda knew it was over when I gave up the single."

Blackburn, who has never tossed a complete game in his 22-game Minors career, lowered his ERA more than half a run to 3.04 -- the 10th-best mark in the South Atlantic League -- in the victory.

After carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh inning in his last outing, Blackburn has allowed two runs or fewer in nine of his 10 South Atlantic League starts. He has fanned 62 batters and issued nine free passes over 53 1/3 innings.

The last time Blackburn went the distance was as a member of the Oklahoma City Sandlot summer team in 2011, when he threw a no-hitter in his final start before signing his pro contract.

Despite dominating over his last few starts, Blackburn is not getting ahead of himself.

"Early in the season I struggled with my command, but over the last four or five games I found my command and was able to throw the ball down in the zone,' said Blackburn, selected by the Giants in the 16th round of last June's Draft out of Edmond Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Okla. "It's all starting to come together for me.

"I do feel like I'm being challenged. Teams are still hitting the ball hard when I make a mistake like they're supposed to. I'm still young and I'm not as polished as I should be."

On Tuesday, Augusta left fielder Shawn Payne plated the only run of the game on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly ball to score Jesus Galindo.

Greensboro starter Adam Conley (6-2) took the hard-luck loss, allowing one run on one hit and a walk while striking out eight batters over six innings.