Allen cruises through five hitless frames

Working on a tight pitch limit, Logan Allen made the most of his limited time Thursday night. 
San Diego's No. 19 prospect didn't allow a hit, walked three and struck out seven over five frames as Class A Fort Wayne topped Great Lakes, 7-5, in 11 innings at Dow Diamond. 

Allen ran into some trouble in the first inning by issuing two walks. He escaped the early jam by fanning Cody Thomas for his second strikeout of the frame.
Box score
"I was pretty much going with the fastball the entire inning," the left-hander said. "I wasn't worried that I wasn't able to throw it for a strike, I was going to keep going back to it until I got it where I wanted it."
In the second, Allen began to roll. The southpaw recorded five strikeouts while cruising through three straight frames in which the ball didn't leave the infield. 
"Once I got out of the first, I knew I had to pull it together and make up some ground. My second and third innings were much better and that propelled me through the rest of the outing," the 19-year-old added.
When he came out for the fifth, Allen had a feeling he was probably working his last one -- and that he hadn't allowed a hit. 
"You know the no-hitter is there, but at the end of the day, it was a 0-0 ballgame, so all I was worried about was keeping my team in a good position to win," he said. "Putting up zeros is our job as a starter, and the job isn't done unless you get through five innings."
Following a walk to Mitchell Hansen, he needed just four pitches to retire the last three hitters. 
"After that tough first inning, I decided to slow things down a little bit," said Allen, who threw 48 of 80 pitches for strikes. "Following that, things were great. I was able to use all of my pitches for strikes and was able to miss quite a few bats."
The Florida native started off with Fort Wayne for the second straight season. Last year, Allen made 12 appearances for the TinCaps before landing on the DL with elbow soreness. After short stints in the Rookie-level Arizona League and with Class A Short Season Tri-City, Allen returned to Fort Wayne for three more starts.
Allen logged a total of 62 1/3 innings and amassed a 3.47 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.
In three starts for Fort Wayne this year, Allen sports a 2.08 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. The 2015 eighth-round pick has struck out 20 in 13 innings. 
"I've been pounding the zone more this season and mixing things up better with my changeup," he said. "I can throw the change at any time in the count. I've also been able to command my curveball as much as my slider and I've been using that to my advantage.
"When I'm filling up the zone, I'm getting outs and I've been getting those outs by missing bats -- which is always a good feeling."

David Bednar (1-0) allowed a run on one hit and struck out four in three innings for the TinCaps. 
Great Lakes reliever Steve Berman (0-1) was charged with three runs on two hits with three walks over 1 1/3 innings.
Padres No. 8 prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his second double of the season and drove in a run. No. 14 Hudson Potts smacked a go-ahead two-run single in the 11th.