Ports' Puk lets loose for five shutout innings

An eight-man rotation for Class A Advanced Stockton had limited A.J. Puk to no more than four innings in each of his first six starts this season. With those restrictions lifted after a switch to a five-man staff, Puk was free to find something for which he's been searching.
"With the five-man rotation, we'll be able to get more side work," he said. "With the eight-man rotation, I usually didn't throw a side because we'd be going every other day off the mound and now I'm just going to be able to get some work in during the week, which I think will be really beneficial."

Perhaps it was the change of routine between outings, but the A's No. 2 prospect recorded a career-high nine strikeouts over five scoreless innings en route to his first professional win Saturday as the Ports rolled past San Jose, 13-2, at Banner Island Ballpark. An economical Puk threw 49 of 67 pitches for strikes.
Box score
The sixth-overall pick in the 2016 Draft retired the first 10 batters, including a string of four consecutive punchouts that began with Giants designated hitter Bryan Reynolds in the first before Puk struck out the side in the second.
"[My putaway pitch] was definitely my slider. My past couple outings, my slider just didn't have the break at the end of it like it had at the beginning of the year," he said. "In my side work this week, I was just able to get focused on getting my slider back, and it happened tonight."
MLB.com's No. 62nd overall prospect was on cruise control until yielding his only baserunner on a single by Ryan Howard with one out in the fourth. The University of Florida product collected four more strikeouts, including an extra tally in the fourth after the third strike to Giants No. 15 prospect Aramis Garcia skipped past catcher Iolana Akau, over his last two frames.
"I just take it one pitch at a time and attack and throw strikes and see what happens," Puk said. "I was just being really aggressive with my fastball, going fastballs inside, and the first time through the lineup I was just kind of taking my slider off my fastball.
"The second time through, I was able to work in my changeup and a couple curveballs, so it was working well."

Puk's fastball sits in the mid-90s and is made all the more intimidating as it comes from his 6-foot-7 frame, but the left-hander remained focused on the success he found after making improvements to his slider.
"I kind of lost some feel for it," he said. "I don't know if that was not getting off the mound in between starts or if everything was just getting a little lackadaisical, but now I'll definitely just be able to continue and get a good rhythm going."
Tyler Ramirez had three hits and drove in three runs for Stockton, while Mikey White doubled and also had three RBIs and Chris Iriart homered. 
Garcia slugged a two-run homer, his second in as many games, off reliever Will Gilbert in the seventh.