Barbosa’s brilliance not enough, Tampa drops series opener to Lakeland

TAMPA, Fla. - A pitchers’ duel broke out Tuesday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field as the Tampa Tarpons (4-12) dropped the series opener to the Lakeland Flying Tigers (10-6), 2-1. RHP Gabriel Barbosa (6.0IP, 4H, 1ER, 1BB, 8K, WP) and Joe Miller went toe to toe, each allowing just one run in their starts. Lakeland won the battle of the bullpens, with the difference maker being a solo home run off the bat of Brett Callahan.

Barbosa made his best start of the season, tossing six innings of one-run ball while recording a season-high eight strikeouts. He diced up Lakeland’s lineup using a six-pitch mix, where he evenly distributed the usage of his curveball, fastball, sinker, changeup, and slider. Barbosa’s fastball and curveball averaged an 11.3 MPH difference to keep the Flying Tigers guessing at the plate. When Lakeland put the ball in play, Barbosa limited hard contact. Of the fourteen balls put in play against him, only three were hard-hit.

Jim Jarvis whacked the first pitch of the third inning to right field for a leadoff single. Jarvis advanced to second base on an errant pickoff attempt from Barbosa. Kevin McGonigle opened the scoring, singling in Jarvis with a base hit to left field for his first RBI of the season. Lakeland put runners on the corners; however, Barbosa settled down to hold the damage to just one run.

C Manuel Palencia opened the bottom half of the third with a 99.4 MPH laser single to center field. With two away and Palencia still at first base, 3B Enmanuel Tejeda roped his second single of the game to center field to set up a two-out scoring opportunity. 2B Roderick Arias evened the score when he lined a 103.5 MPH single to center field, bringing home Palencia.

RHP Montana Semmel (1-1) relieved Barbosa in the seventh and was unable to hold the lead. Callahan, the first batter he faced, drilled a 372-foot solo home run to right-center. After the homer, John Peck singled and swiped second base. A groundout advanced him to third base, and a walk to David Smith put runners at the corners. The Tigers called on Jose De La Cruz to pinch hit, and Semmel got him to roll over a slider that turned into a 6-4-3 double play to hold the deficit to one.

The Tarpons could not muster anything in the ninth as Lakeland held on for a narrow 2-1 victory. Tampa will look to bounce back tomorrow with RHP Luis Serna on the mound at GMS Field, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.