Thunder's Acevedo shines in Double-A debut

Double-A Trenton manager Bobby Mitchell had never seen Domingo Acevedo pitch before Friday. After the right-hander's first start, he was quite impressed.
The Yankees' No. 13 prospect allowed four hits, struck out five and walked two over 6 1/3 innings in his Eastern League debut as the Thunder defeated Portland, 6-0, at ARM & HAMMER Park.

"It was really fun to watch," Mitchell said. "His command was really good. He threw strikes and moved the ball around in and out of the zone and his changeup and his slider were really good."
Gameday box score
Mitchell said Acevedo appeared calm despite allowing at least one baserunner to reach in five innings. The 23-year-old got a huge boost in the third when Gleyber Torres, MLB.com's No. 2 overall prospect, drilled a grand slam for his fifth home run in six games.
"He's got great bat speed," Mitchell said. "That at-bat, he took it and he hit it a long way. The raw power he has is unbelievable. It was a big plus for us for him to hit a grand slam like that."

Given a five-run cushion, Acevedo cruised until issuing a walk to Cole Sturgeon and a single to Tzu-Wei Lin to open the seventh. The native of the Dominican Republic struck out Mike Olt, but Mitchell lifted him in favor of Nestor Cortes.
"He had 90 pitches and it was a hot night and you could tell that he was tiring a little bit because he was getting the ball up in the zone," the manager said. "He really did a good job of battling until the end."
Acevedo was promoted to the Thunder after posting a 4.57 ERA with 52 strikeouts and nine walks over 41 1/3 innings with Class A Advanced Tampa. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound righty possesses an upper-90's fastball and an impressive changeup.

Mitchell said he is looking forward to working with Acevedo more closely.
"He threw the ball well. He kept the ball down for the most part," he said. "Threw his changeup in the zone where he was getting swings at them for strikes. Right now, we're just going to try to refine everything he's doing. He's going to have to make adjustments when the league sees him more and makes adjustments to him. I'm sure he'll do fine after watching him tonight."

Ninth-ranked Yankees prospect Miguel Andújar ripped a solo homer for the Thunder while Jorge Saez finished 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
Trey Ball (1-3), the Red Sox's No. 29 prospect, surrendered five runs on five hits, fanned seven and walked three over 4 1/3 frames for Portland.