Lakeland's Burrows turns in longest pro outing

It's been several years since Beau Burrows experienced the feat he pulled off Friday night. 
"I haven't gone seven innings since I was high school, so it felt awesome to be out there for the team and just competing with them," he said.  
The Tigers' No. 3 prospect turned in the longest outing of his professional career, allowing four hits with a walk and a career high-tying eight strikeouts as Class A Advanced Lakeland topped Tampa, 3-0, at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Box score
"I had a feel of the fastball early on and I was using it up in the zone," the Texas native said. "They were swinging at it so it was very successful tonight. The slider was also on and I got a lot of ground-ball outs and early contact."
The 20-year-old right-hander fanned Yankees No. 4 prospectJorge Mateo and Trey Amburgey in the first before working around a pair of errors in the second.
"I didn't worry about that kind of stuff," Burrows said. "I just kept my composure and kept throwing strikes. I trust the defense behind me and I knew they were going the plays after that."
A 2015 first-round pick, Burrows struck out the side in the third around a single from rehabbing Major Leaguer Didi Gregorius, and retired 11 of remaining 15 batters he faced.
Add in his scoreless outing in the season opener against Tampa on April 6 and Burrows has blanked the Yankees over 11 1/3 innings this year.
"I had a better idea of how to go about the lineup," Burrows said. "My catcher, Austin Green, and I had a pretty good idea going into the game. We stuck to the game plan and got the outs when we needed them."

The eight punchouts matched Burrows' personal best set Sept. 2 with Class A West Michigan. He went 6-4 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP over 20 starts for the Whitecaps before preparing himself for his first Florida State League campaign.
"I just worked on keeping the ball down in the zone and throwing more strikes and making my off-speed pitches more consistent," said Burrows, who's allowed two earned runs with 21 strikeouts and five walks in 22 1/3 innings. "It all worked out tonight and I'm feeling pretty good overall."
Spenser Watkins allowed one hit and struck out one over the final two innings for his first career save.
Tigers No. 22 prospect Zac Shepherd had a solo homer and a single, while Green tacked on two hits.
Gregorius went 2-for-3 before being lifted in the seventh for Yankees No. 24 prospect Kyle Holder.