He came oh-so-close.

A little upset that his manager came out to remove him from the game with just one out to go, Ryan Yarbrough (Luray 2012) nevertheless fired a gem in his latest Tampa Bay Rays start, on Sunday, August 11th.

Over only 99 pitches, Yarbrough finished 8 2/3 innings, allowing only three hits, didn’t walk anyone, and struck out eight. Kevin Cash, his manager, took him out of the game with two outs in the ninth for Emilio Pagan (incidentally also a former Valley Leaguer- he played for the Harrisonburg Turks in 2010). Pagan retired the last batter to finish the shutout.

Yarbrough is having an even better sophomore season than his rookie campaign. After Sunday, he’s 11-3, 3.56, with a 0.90 WHIP in 98 2/3 innings, thanks to only 13 walks against 78 strikeouts.

Ryan Yarbrough TB pitching