Kopech rounding into form for Salem

Michael Kopech is doing his best to make up for lost time. 

Making his third start of the season and second for Class A Advanced Salem, the No. 5 Red Sox prospect struck out eight and scattered four hits over five scoreless innings Wednesday in a 6-5 loss to Wilmington at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

"I'm getting close, but I wouldn't say I'm where I want to be," Kopech said. "But I'm feeling more comfortable at this point, which is big."

In addition to the five strong innings, Kopech also touched triple digits on the radar gun, a welcome sign for the 2014 first-round pick. 

"That was big, being able to touch triple digits again," he said. "It's good to see the velocity is back to where I want it to be."

The game got off to a strange start for the 20-year-old, who needed four outs to get through the opening frame. After Brian Bien hit a leadoff singled, Kopech fanned Anderson Miller and Brandon Downes, but the third strike to Downes got by catcher Jordan Procyshen to load the bases for Wander Franco. Kopech called his own number when Wilmington's third baseman hit a grounder back to the 6-foot-3 right-hander, who threw home to nab Bien, then struck out Chad Johnson. 

"I was frustrated after loading the bases in the first inning, and having that walk didn't help," Kopech said. "The pitch got away from my catcher, but that's a really tough pitch to block, so there's nothing he could do. Getting out of an inning like that sets you up for how you're going to be for the rest of the game, so getting that last out was a bit of a relief."

Kopech followed by working around a single in the second, third, and fourth and putting together a 1-2-3 fifth. 

"I feel like I was getting stronger as the game went on," he said. "The name of the game is settling in. I think I was able to settle in around the fourth or fifth, but at that time, the pitch count was getting up there."

After missing the first two months of the season due to a broken right hand, Kopech made his 2016 debut on June 17, striking out four and scattering four hits over 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Class A Short Season Lowell. He made his Carolina League debut in his next start on July 7, allowing one hit over four shutout frames. 

"Obviously, there's a lot of questions about how I would come back after missing so much time," the Texas native said. "I'm trying to come back and pitch the way I should have been throwing all year, but I talked to my pitching coach and we've talked about focusing on one game at a time."

Kopech exited a scoreless game, but Rafael Devers --  MLB.com's No. 14 overall prospect -- lifted Salem into a 1-1 tie with an RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth.

Miller, the Royals' 24th-ranked prospect, delivered a run-scoring double in the seventh in his Class A Advanced debut and Colton Frabasillo added an RBI triple in the eighth for the Blue Rocks.

Wilmington starter and Royals No. 9 prospect Foster Griffin (2-5) allowed a run on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in six innings.