Power's Tarpley hurls eight shutout innings

Stephen Tarpley has a couple of no-hitters under his belt. On Saturday, he may have figured out how to top those milestones.

The Pirates' No. 24 prospect allowed three hits over eight innings to pitch Class A West Virginia to a 9-0 blanking of Hickory at L.P. Frans Stadium.

"I'd say this is probably one of my best outings, if not the best outing, that I've had so far -- just command-wise, just being able to command the ball where I want it to be," he said. "I was throwing down a lot and mixing in and out, mixing in off-speed the second and third time through the lineup. Just trying to keep these guys off their toes for the most part."

After striking out 17 over his previous two starts, Tarpley (10-2) pitched to contact against the Crawdads. With his four-seam and two-seam fastballs working down in the strike zone, the 22-year-old southpaw struck out two and forced 16 groundouts without issuing a walk.

"It was just staying about knee-high the whole game for the most part and just establishing the lower half of the strike zone. And guys were swinging on top of my fastball, so I got some groundouts here and there," he said. "Just tried to keep it down so I could let my defense work. I made a couple mistakes here and there, but they were mistakes down or mistakes in or off the plate, so it really worked out in my favor."

Keeping the hiccups to a minimum, Tarpley allowed five baserunners but none past first. The Los Angeles native recorded his third scoreless outing of the season and matched a career high by going eight innings.

"I wanted to go nine, that's for sure, but I only had four pitches left," he said. "I just wish I could've finished the complete game, but there's always more that you're going to want out of the game and I've accepted that I've done well enough to meet my standards for the time being."

Winning his seventh straight decision, Tarpley lowered his ERA to 2.14, which would lead the South Atlantic League if he had enough innings to qualify. The 6-foot-1 hurler ranks second on the Power with a career-best 87 strikeouts. With a few weeks left in his first full Minor League season, Tarpley said he's looking forward to any final improvements.

"I'm just hoping to keep moving forward, keep getting better throughout the end of the season, keep executing my game plan and just seeing what I could really do," he said. "These last four starts of mine are really going to be a test of what I got left in the tank and what I can really do. And it's going to let me know if I'm going to be that playoff player or if I'm just going to call it in."

Jordan Luplow supplied much of the support for Tarpley. The Pirates' No. 28 prospect plated four runs in his first career two-homer game as the Power totaled 12 hits.

"That was awesome, that was a big sigh of relief for me," Tarpley said of Luplow and the offense. "It just allowed me to feel more comfortable out there, and I was still sticking to the same game plan. But its's always helpful to have a lead and being able to relax a little and take a deep breath."

Dillon Tate -- the Rangers' first-round pick in this year's Draft -- made his South Atlantic League debut with Hickory. Texas' third-ranked prospect struck out one in a perfect inning.

"He looked really good today. We only got to see him for an inning; he looked solid though," Tarpley said of MLB.com's No. 54 overall prospect. "I know he was a college player, and seeing him throw like that was an experience; it was awesome to see him pitch."

Rangers No. 17 prospect Brett Martin (4-6) allowed three runs on six hits and four walks while fanning three over five frames following the UC-Santa Barbara product.