M-Braves' Soroka victorious in pitchers' duel

Mike Soroka received something of a blessing in disguise Monday night in the form of the opposition's no-hit bid.
"It was actually almost easier to focus," the Braves' fourth-ranked prospect said. "Because [Bubba Derby] might've been on a quicker pace than I was, so it was pretty much just sit down, take a breather, have a drink and go back out there again. I never really got out of my rhythm."
Soroka ended up turning in the longest outing of his career with eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, in Double-A Mississippi's 4-2 win over Biloxi at Trustmark Park.

"Tonight was one of those rare nights where pretty much everything was working for me," said Soroka, ranked 67th overall. "[Catcher Kade Scivicque] and I did a really good job of working together again. I was throwing both offspeed pitches and both of my fastballs for strikes at will. So those are the kind of the nights that you've got to capitalize on having your stuff and make sure you go out there and attack every hitter."
After failing to register a strikeout over six innings in a win over Jackson on May 31, Soroka fanned leadoff hitter Johnny Davis.
"I wouldn't say my stuff was really missing. Jackson was just a really good attacking team," the right-hander said. "I was just kind of missing those ever-so-slight put-away pitches. But today, I was locating the offspeed pitches really well, so they were always thinking. So that was probably the key."
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Soroka gave up a single to Blake Allemand two batters later, but retired the next 15 in order before working around back-to-back singles by Davis and ninth-ranked Brewers prospectMauricio Dubón.
"The game was moving by very quickly," the 19-year-old said. "Kade did a really good job of mixing it up, and the guys in the dugout kept it loose and kept it the way I love to pitch in. It was just an all-around really fun night."
And while Soroka was showcasing his dominance, Derby matched him inning by inning. Making a spot start after 15 relief appearances, the 23-year-old took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. The only baserunner to reach in that span was Atlanta's No. 9 prospect, Travis Demeritte, who took first on a dropped third strike in the fourth.
"It was good to have a competitive spirit to the other team too," Soroka said. "Usually you don't try to pay too much attention to what they are doing, but when you see that he was throwing a no-hitter, it was even more motivation to go out there and keep doing your thing too, because we are one swing away from a decision in games like that. But that was one of the more fun games I've ever pitched in."
With two outs in the seventh, Mississippi broke through against Derby on back-to-back singles by Joey Meneses and Levi Hyams. Reliever Tayler Scott was greeted with Connor Lien's RBI single to left field.  

"You have a duty to keep the lead after that," said Soroka, threw just six pitches in the eighth. "Once we got that run on the board, it's in your hands to go out there and make the best pitches that you can. It was just one of those things where I just kept attacking and good things kept happening."
The outing gave Soroka seven starts this season in which he hasn't given up more than three hits. And having thrown just 85 pitches, the Calgary, Alberta native was tempted to put some icing on the cake.

"Oh, 100 percent I wanted to take the mound again [in the ninth]," Soroka said. "That would've been pretty special to have the first opportunity to get the first nine-inning complete game of my life. That would've been awesome. But it was [Mississippi manager Luis Salazar's] decision. It was my time to come out and hand it over. The boys did a good job of just shutting it down."
Rex Brothers got the first two outs in the ninth, but allowed two runs before Jason Hursh struck out the only batter he faced to notch his fifth save of the year.