Captains' Goodnight still pitching great

All puns aside, it really was yet another excellent night on the mound Tuesday for Michael Goodnight.

Goodnight extended his scoreless streak to 11 innings, holding Wisconsin to three hits over six frames in Class A Lake County's 9-0 blanking of Wisconsin at Fox Cities Stadium.

"I was really pleased. To go out there and throw shutout innings, to throw zeros, it felt good," Goodnight said.

The Indians' 13th-round pick last year struck out four and walked one in his 12th start of the season. It was his fifth straight outing of allowing one run or fewer.

"I was mainly throwing my fastball in and out and showing them off-speed stuff," he said. "And just getting them to ground out on my fastball."

The right-hander from Houston is 3-0 in his five starts since May 8, allowing three runs on 16 hits over 29 2/3 innings in that span. He has not allowed a run in his last two appearances.

"You stay on your routine. You go about every day the same way, and you see the results," said Goodnight, who came out after reaching his 80-pitch limit. "When you're called on to pitch, you just stay in that rhythm and hit your spots."

The 6-foot-4 Cape Cod League product made four starts last summer for Class A Short-Season Mahoning Valley. He's adjusted well to the Midwest League, posting his first 10-strikeout effort in a May 3 win over Lansing. He struck out seven over a career-high seven frames May 21.

Goodnight, who turns 22 on Friday, worked 1-2-3 innings in the first, third and sixth, escaping a jam in the fourth with an inning-ending double-play.

"I walked the first guy and [after Gregory Hopkins reached on an error], I had one out, runners first and second. I just knew I needed to stay within myself, not try to strike people out," said Goodnight, who retired Michael Walker to end the frame. "I ended up throwing a fastball, and he rolled over and I got out of the inning."

The Captains handed their starter a lead in the fourth when Ronny Rodriguez led off the frame with his third home run.

Lake County then scored four times in the fifth. Rodriguez hit a bases-loaded single, knocking home Nick Bartolone and Brian Heere, before Carlos Moncrief followed with an RBI single. Rodriguez made his way home on a wild pitch by Jimmy Nelson.

For Goodnight, it was his fifth straight outing of at least five innings, a trend he'd like to continue and improve upon.

"I've set my goal to basically chew up innings and keep the team in the game," he said. "Chewing innings is the biggest thing I want to do."