Tigers' Hall takes perfect game into eighth

On May 23, Tigers prospect Matt Hall had the roughest start of his pro career, allowing eight earned runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings for Class A Advanced Lakeland.
Since then, he's been dominant. On Wednesday he took a perfect game into the eighth inning at Daytona, ultimately allowing two singles over 8 1/3 innings as the Flying Tigers blanked the host Tortugas, 6-0. Hall matched his career high with 11 strikeouts and has not allowed an earned run since that loss on May 23 -- a span of 31 innings.

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"I had a sit-down talk with my manager and pitching coach after that game [in May]," Hall said. "We talked about changing my pitch sequences and varying speeds more. Things have been going great since then, and the guys have been playing great defense behind me."
A sixth-round pick out of Missouri State in the 2015 Draft, Hall began his first full season the following spring by going 8-0 with a 1.09 ERA in 12 starts for Class A West Michigan. His numbers have been mixed in 26 Florida State League outings since then, but are definitely trending in the right direction. This season the left-hander posted a 6.59 ERA in April, a 4.01 mark in May and a 0.00 in June. His season ERA now sits at 3.08.
Hall's start at Daytona's Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Wednesday was an exercise in efficiency. He retired the first 12 Tortuga batters without the ball leaving the infield. After a trio of flyouts in the fifth, Hall got groundouts or strikeouts from the next eight hitters before Daytona catcher Chris Okey smacked a first-pitch base hit to right with two outs in the eighth.

"I think I went to the well one too many times there," Hall said. "It was a first-pitch curve and he got good wood on it and found a hole."
Hall (6-5) finished off the eighth by getting Brantley Bell looking. Despite a pitch count nearing 100, he returned for the ninth, fanning Blake Butler before yielding a second single to Tortugas center fielder Mitch Piatnik. Now at 109 pitches -- 75 of them strikes -- Hall gave way to outfielder-turned-pitcher Anthony Gose, who induced a flyout to right that turned into a double play, catching Piatnik, who apparently thought there were two outs, off first.
Asked if he was surprised to go back out for the ninth, Hall said, "Maybe a little. I'm glad my coaches had the confidence in me to send me back out and get a chance to finish it off."
The outing -- 8 1/3 scoreless innings with two hits, no walks and 11 strikeouts -- yielded a game score of 90, tied for third-best in the Minors this season. The only better starts were those by Pensacola's Tyler Mahle and Augusta's Domenic Mazza, both of whom threw nine-inning perfect games in April.
Lakeland catcher Will Allen hit his eighth homer of the season and drove in three of the Flying Tigers' six runs, while second baseman Will Maddox went 3-for-4.
Daytona starter Wendolyn Bautista fell to 1-2 with the loss, allowing four runs -- two of them earned -- on eight hits and a pair of walks over 5 2/3 innings.