Tampa Pitchers Tally 15 Ks in Two-Hit Shutout, 1-0

TAMPA, Fla. - The Tarpons broke a scoreless tie by scoring on a throwing error in the seventh and beat the Fire Frogs, 1-0, in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field. It was the fourth shutout of the season for Tampa, and the sixth-straight victory in the season-series against Florida.
RHP Miguel Yajure tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts while scattering two hits, two walks and two hit-batters over six scoreless innings, throwing 64 of 92 pitches for strikes. The 21-year-old now leads Tampa (25-35) with five quality starts and has not permitted a run in his last 13 innings pitched.
Estevan Florial walked, and Diego Castillo singled to begin the bottom of the first. Florida starter Philip Pfeifer struck out Isiah Gilliam before Florial took third on a deep flyout by Dermis Garcia , but Pheifer got a flyout by Donny Sands to end the frame.
Tampa had its best scoring opportunity when Florial lined a leadoff double in the third and took third base on a flyout by Castillo, but Pfeifer struck out both Gilliam and Garcia to escape the jam and preserve the scoreless tie.
The southpaw retired 10-straight batters before Gilliam reached on a two-base fielding error with one out in the sixth. After striking out Garcia looking, Pfeifer was relieved by RHP Walter Borkovich (L, 2-1), who got Sands to fly out to end the inning.
Pfeifer tallied a career-high eight strikeouts while yielding four hits and one walk over five and two-third innings, throwing 62 of 96 pitches for strikes.
Angel Aguilar legged out an infield single with one out in the bottom of the seventh and raced for third on a flare into shallow right-center by Welfrin Mateo . Right-fielder Isranel Wilson threw high towards third base and into the stands, allowing Aguilar to score.
Mateo was placed at third on the error and attempted to score on a squeeze bunt by Tyler Hill but was tagged out by catcher Rusber Estrada before a strikeout ended the inning.
LHP Trevor Lane (W, 1-0) collected three strikeouts while retiring all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth. RHP Matt Wivinis (SV, 2) added two more punchouts in a perfect ninth. It was the fourth game this season in which Tampa pitchers had 15 strikeouts.
Aguilar (2-for-3, R) and Florial (1-for-3, 2B, BB) reached base twice apiece. Gilliam (0-for-4) and Sands (0-for-4) had, respectively, seven and five game hitting streaks come to an end. Garcia (1-for-4, 2B) doubled in the eighth for his 23^rd extra-base hit.
RHP Jio Orozco (0-1, 6.23) is slated to make his second start since being promoted from Single-A Charleston when the series continues on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Florida's starting pitcher is TBA. Live play-by-play of the action will be available on the Tampa Tarpons Baseball Network.
 
On Strikeout Saturday, strikeouts by Tampa pitchers will determine the special of the day. When a Tarpons pitcher strikes out a batter, a select special will be activated for the night (each special lasts 60 minutes). In addition, fans can collect player autographs on the concourse from 5:40-6:00 p.m.