Steady Sheffield posts six zeros for Thunder

For the first time this season, Justus Sheffield turned in a scoreless outing. 
The Yankees No. 3 prospect kept Double-A Portland off the board through six innings, allowing three hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in Trenton's 6-1 eight-inning victory in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader at Hadlock Field.

"Early on, first couple of innings, he was getting ahead of most guys," Thunder pitching coach Tim Norton said. "He had a real good slider. He ran into a jam in the third and fourth, falling behind in some counts. He had to pitch out of some adversity, but he finished really good. His slider was terrific tonight and it usually is. He was overall pretty solid."
Sheffield ran into trouble in the third inning when a leadoff double by Jhon Nunez and a walk issued to Danny Mars put two men on with nobody out. Jeremy Rivera attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners into scoring position. But MLB.com's No. 46 prospect fielded the ball himself and made a heads-up play to get the forceout at third. 
Norton said Sheffield made a similar play earlier this season too.
"Every out is really important ... he's done a nice job [defensively]," the pitching coach said.
Sheffield rebounded by striking out Cole Sturgeon and Josh Tobias to escape the third.
Gameday box score
The 2014 first-round Draft selection for Cleveland worked around trouble twice more. In the fourth, Sheffield induced an inning-ending double-play ball from Nick Lovullo after he allowed a single to Tate Matheny and walked Tony Renda. He struck out Nunez and Rivera in a 1-2-3 fifth. In the sixth, the left-hander induced Tobias to hit into a double play then struck out Josh Ockimey looking to end the frame and his outing.
"He got a couple double plays when he needed to," Norton said. "Those are always nice when you can get a couple of outs in one pitch."
Sheffield was at his best Tuesday, Norton said, while working out of the middle-inning jams. In mid-April, Sheffield said he pitches better when he's in attack mode on the mound, and Norton agreed with that assessment. 
"When he's real aggressive, he's pretty damn good," the coach said. "He gets in some jams, he flips the switch. He turns it on. He's on the hunt. All of a sudden, he's rolling. If you keep on the attack with this guy, he's pretty special." 
Sheffield's nine strikeouts tied his season high, which he also accomplished on April 13 against Akron. The 21-year-old threw 51 pitches of 88 pitches for strikes. His 39 whiffs this season lead all Double-A pitchers and he's fanned at least eight in his last four starts. The double plays, however, stuck out to Norton. 
"If you're always pitching for the strikeout, you're going to be throwing a lot of pitches," he said. "When you can mix some quick outs in and some double plays it really helps you, for sure." 

Norton is aware the Tullahoma, Tennessee native's stint in Trenton may be coming to an end with a possible promotion on the horizon. 
"He's doing a solid job," Norton said. "When the time comes, I'm sure he'll move [up] eventually, whenever that is. He just needs to keep putting together good work weeks, and he has thus far. He'll be just fine. When it's time, it's time." 
Portland tied the game in the seventh, with Sheffield out of the game, on a sacrifice fly to center by Nunez.
The Thunder answered with five runs the next half inning. Jhalan Jackson slugged a two-run homer, which tied him for the Eastern League lead with Binghamton's Peter Alonso to key the outburst.