Supak posts more zeros for Shuckers

With an innings limit creeping up, Trey Supak showed no signs of fatigue as he continued his stingy ways Sunday.
The Brewers' No. 11 prospect produced his seventh scoreless outing of the year, allowing a pair of hits and tying a season high with eight punchouts over seven innings, as Double-A Biloxi blanked Pensacola, 8-0, at MGM Park. It was the eighth time in 13 starts this year that he hasn't given up an earned run.

"I had everything working well for me again," he said. "I was able to keep guys off-balance, my curveball was there, the changeup was good and the fastball set everything up. I've just been focused on throwing quality pitches and staying ahead."
The effort catapulted Supak (8-2) into the top three in several Southern League categories. The right-hander's eight wins, 0.88 WHIP, 13 starts and 80 innings pitched are tops on the circuit, while his 1.91 ERA ranks third behind Jacksonville's Riley Smith (1.65) and Mississippi's Tucker Davidson (1.82). His .193 average against and .800 winning percentage also are third-best, while Sunday was the second time in three starts he hasn't issued a walk.
"A big thing I focused on in Spring Training and brought with me into the season was limiting my baserunners," Supak said, who's walked 16 batters over 80 innings this season. "So part of that is controlling what you can control, and I can control walks. Sso a big part for me was getting rid of those, and if people do reach, limiting the damage as best I can. Staying away from the big inning."
After allowing a one-out double in the first to Jimmy Kerrigan, Supak set down the next four batters -- whiffing three in a row -- before plunking Brian Navarreto with an 0-1 pitch. The 23-year-old recovered by retiring eight Blue Wahoos in a row.
"That was just a case of not executing a pitch," he said. "I tried to throw my fastball there and it got away from me."
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Navarreto ended the streak after getting hit again with one out in the fifth, but Supak finished his outing with seven consecutive outs. He needed seven pitches to navigate the seventh.
"That was just another pitch that got away. I missed with my changeup that time," he said. "But I felt great at the end there. The team gave me some long innings of rest, so when I came out after the seventh, I wanted to go out again for the eighth. But I know I'm coming up on an innings limit and the plan is to save my arm for some innings at the end. So we're managing some innings right now and since I wasn't going to finish the game, there just wasn't a reason to go back out again."
Supak fell an out shy of history on May 30 when he took a no-hit bid into the ninth against Tennessee.
"He's a smart kid. He knows how to make adjustments," Shuckers pitching coach Bob Milacki told MiLB.com after Supak's scoreless start on May 24. "He doesn't make excuses. He knows when he makes a mistake. When you know when you make mistakes and you learn from them, you just continue to get better. And if you make excuses, you don't learn."
The Texas native did not allow an earned run over his final three starts last season and totaled six scoreless outings between Class A Advanced Carolina and Biloxi. He finished the year with eight wins and 123 strikeouts over 137 2/3 across the two levels while posting a 2.48 ERA and limiting opponents to a .223 average.

"He's always prepared when he goes out there. He's a student of the game, so he understands how to attack hitters," Milacki said. "It's fun to watch him and Max McDowell, the battery, face these opposing teams. They really talk a lot in the dugout."
Right-hander Cody Ponce finished off the Shuckers' 10th shutout of the season, working around four hits and fanning three over the final two frames.
Dillon Thomas led the offense for Biloxi with his first five-RBI effort since 2013. He crushed a three-run dinger that capped a four-run first, drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth, added an RBI single in the sixth and doubled in the eighth. Patrick Leonard reached base four times with a double, two singles and a walk, scoring on Thomas' base hit in the sixth.