Vizcaino Debuts with Six Scoreless as Tampa Blanks Jupiter, 2-0

TAMPA, Fla. - RHP Alexander Vizcaino dueled with LHP Trevor Rogers in his Tarpons debut and spun six scoreless frames enroute to earning the win as Tampa (19-19, 47-57) blanked Jupiter (17-22, 38-64) in a series-clinching 2-0 victory on Saturday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Vizcaino retired seven of the first eight batters he faced before issuing a one-out walk in the third. The 22-year-old then got Víctor Víctor Mesa to ground into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double-play - the first of three twin-killings achieved by Tampa's infield in the game.
JJ Bleday lined a leadoff single in the fourth before, one pitch later, he was forced out at second as Jerar Encarnacion grounded into a 4-6-3 double-play.
Rogers retired 13 of the first 15 batters he faced, stranding a pair of two-out singles by Leonardo Molina in the third and Alexander Palma in the fourth.
Donny Sands singled passed third-baseman James Nelson in the fifth and, with two outs, Molina crushed a double into the gap in left-center, plating Sands to open the scoring. Pablo Olivares followed with a base hit to center, scoring Molina for a 2-0 lead.
Vizcaino (W, 1-0) worked around a one-out single in the fifth before tossing a perfect sixth to complete his debut. The right-hander logged his seventh quality start of the season, yielding four hits and one walk over six scoreless innings, striking out five on 80 pitches (48 strikes).
Rogers (L, 5-9) stranded a two-out single by Palma in the sixth and a two-out infield hit by Kyle Gray in the seventh to complete his ninth quality start and his third-straight start of seven innings. The 21-year-old allowed two earned runs on seven hits, walking none while tallying 10 strikeouts on 86 pitches (62 strikes).
RHP Glenn Otto relieved Vizcaino in the seventh and walked Nick Fortes to begin the frame. Two outs later, a base hit by Jhonny Santos put the tying runs on the corners, but Otto struck out Harrison Dinicola to maintain the shutout.
Micah Brown walked to lead off the eighth, but Otto (H, 1) got Mesa to ground into a 6-4-3 double-play before striking out Bleday to end the frame.
Otto struck out Encarnacion to open the ninth before RHP Kyle Zurak entered in relief. After a groundout by Fortes, Demitrius Sims reached on an error, but Zurak (SV, 8) got a groundout by Nelson to end the game.
Olivares (2-for-4, RBI, CS) is now on a six-game hitting streak .474 (9-for-19) in that span. Molina (2-for-3, 2B, RBI, R) is batting .455 (10-for-22) with 7 RBI over his last seven games. Palma (2-for-4) logged his first multi-hit game since rejoining the Tarpons.
The series concludes on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., with RHP Clarke Schmidt (3-3, 3.23) slated to start opposite LHP Braxton Garrett (4-4, 2.95). Live play-by-play of the action will be available on the Tampa Tarpons Baseball Network.
 
As part of Family Funday Sunday, fans can take advantage of $40 Family 4-Packs, which include four tickets, four hats and four $5 concession vouchers (Family 4-Packs are only available at the George M. Steinbrenner Field Box Office. In addition, Kids 14-and-under can the run the bases after the game.