Tampa Tarpons Game Notes: vs. Palm Beach
July 27, 2018 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Tampa Tarpons News Release
7/27 Tampa vs. Palm Beach - Game 2 (of four) - George M. Steinbrenner Field (Tampa, FL) - 6:30 p.m.
Pitching Matchup: RHP Evan Guillory (1-2, 7.01) vs. LHP Dalton Lehnen (0-2, 3.20). Live Audio: TuneIn Radio (Tampa Tarpons Broadcast Network).
LAST NIGHT: After losing a late lead in the top of the 8th, the Tarpons used a two-out rally to score three runs in the home half and went on to win the series-opener, 6-4...Ben Ruta (3-for-4, RBI, 2R) hit a game-tying RBI single in the 8th...After a walk by Rashad Crawford (1-for-2, BB, Sac-B), Estevan Florial (3-for-5, 2B, 3RBI, CS) hit a go-ahead, two-out, two-run double...Dom Thompson-Williams (2-for-4, CS) also had a multi-hit game...RHP Rony Garcia (5.1IP, 2H, 1ER, 3BB, 6K, WP, 94P/60S) took a no-decision...RHP Kaleb Ort (BS, 1)(W, 1-1) won in relief (1.0IP, 2H, 2ER, 2BB, 0K)...RHP Matt Frawley (SV, 3) tossed a perfect 9th (1.0IP, 0H).
TRIPLE THREAT: For the fourth time in his last seven games, Ben Ruta logged a three-hit game. The 24-year-old singled three times on Thursday and is now batting .481 (13-for-27) over his last seven games. Ruta also stole two bases on Wednesday and now leads all Yankees minor leaguers with 27SB (12 w/ Trenton and 15 w/ Tampa).
GO, DIEGO, GO! In July (22 games), Diego Castillo (1-for-4, BB, R) is batting .333 (28-for-84) with 17R, 5 doubles, 10RBI, 5BB and 3SB. In that span, the 20-year-old has struck out only two times in 84 at-bats. Among qualified batters, Castillo leads the league in lowest TPA/SO Ratio (10.64).
ME FIRST! Last night, the Tarpons scored in each of the first two innings for the third-straight game when Donny Sands (0-for-3, Sac-F, RBI) delivered a sacrifice fly in the 1st and Angel Aguilar (1-for-3, HR, BB, RBI, 2R) clubbed a solo homer in the 2nd. Tampa scored seven runs in the first two innings on Tuesday and led 6-0 after two innings on Wednesday.
OFFENSE STAYS HOT: The Tarpons collected 11 more hits last night, tallying double-digit hits for the sixth time in eight games. In that span, Tampa's offense is batting .305 (86-for-282) while scoring 49 runs, averaging over six runs-per-game.
BIG TOE: Ronald Torreyes (1-for-4, R) played six more innings at shortstop on Wednesday before getting replaced by Hoy Jun Park (1-for-1, 2B). The 25-year-old was optioned from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to Tampa on Monday and went 1-for-3 (1B) while playing six innings at shortstop before taking a day off on Tuesday. In two stints this season with the New York Yankees, Torreyes is batting .323 (21-for-65) with 7R, 6 doubles, 6RBI and 2BB in 24 games. The Venezuelan has also played in 13 games with the RailRiders, batting .196 (9-for-46) with 4R, 1 double, 2RBI and 4BB.
VS. PALM BEACH: Tonight will be the second of eight games scheduled between the Tampa Tarpons and Palm Beach Cardinals. The Tarpons lead the season-series, 1-0. Last season, Tampa finished 5-3 against Palm Beach, including 4-0 at GMS Field and 1-3 at Roger Dean Stadium.
STRIKEOUT KINGS: Nick Green (4K), Kaleb Ort (2K) and Matt Wivinis (5K) combined for 11 strikeouts on Monday. Tampa pitchers have tallied double-digit strikeouts in 45 games this season, with the Tarpons going 25-20 in such games. Tampa, by far, leads the Florida State League in strikeouts, totaling 971K entering today. That is 92K more than the team ranked second (Clearwater - 879K). Tampa is averaging 9.43 K-per-game and is on pace for 1,320K, which would crush its own FSL single-season strikeout record set last season with 1,215K.
BABY BOMBERS: The Tarpons currently lead the league with 84 home runs. No other team has more than 74.
SENSLEY'S SOLOS: Prior to joining the Tarpons, Steven Sensley hit 10 home runs in 67 games with Single-A Charleston. The 22-year-old has since added three more homers with Tampa. All 13 of Sensley's home runs have been with the bases empty.
WAGS PROMOTED: On Monday, INF Brandon Wagner was promoted to Double-A Trenton. The 22-year-old leaves Tampa after batting .270 with 20HR and 57RBI in 87 games with the Tarpons. At the time of his promotion, Wagner led the Florida State League in total bases (155), ranked second in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage (.510), and ranked fourth in both runs scored (52) and walks (43).
FOR STARTERS: LHP Dalton Lehnen (0-2, 3.20) will make his fifth start with Tampa...Last time out, took the loss at Dunedin on 7/21 (5.0IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 3K, WP, HB, 78P/46S)...Began the season with Single-A Charleston, going 6-3 with a 2.67 ERA (70.2IP, 59H, 23R/21ER, 3HR, 3HB, 24BB, 73K) in 13 games (11 starts).
2017: In his professional debut, combined with the GCL Yankees West and Rookie-level Pulaski to go 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA (33.1IP, 40H, 20R/15ER, 9BB, 43K, 3HR) in 11 games (10 starts).
Personal: 22-years-old, 6-3, 222 - Burnsville, Minnesota...Selected by the Yankees in the sixth round in 2017 out of Augustana University...In his only season at Augustana University (S. Dak.), went 3-3 with a 2.60 ERA (52.0IP, 15ER) and 61K in 11 games (10 starts)...prior to transferring to Augustana, attended the University of Cincinnati for two years.
Florida State League Stories from July 27, 2018
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