McKenzie lights-out in RubberDucks' gem

After breaking camp on the disabled list, Triston McKenzie's delayed debut with Double-A Akron came with an abbreviated workload. Judging by the results, he seems ready to be turned loose.
The second-ranked Indians prospect carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Ke'Bryan Hayes tripled to lead off the frame as the RubberDucks blanked the Curve, 3-0, on Tuesday at Canal Park. McKenzie struck out four and walked one, lowering his ERA to 3.34 in his sixth Eastern League start.

"The ball wasn't flying tonight," he said. "I think I was just pitching to where they weren't hitting the ball hard enough to get it out or above my outfielders, and I got weak contact on some ground balls."

McKenzie experienced right forearm soreness coming out of Spring Training and was sidelined until his Double-A debut on June 7. The 20-year-old earned his first win on the circuit with five one-hit innings in his return against New Hampshire. In the four starts since, he has allowed 12 earned runs over a 21-inning span but has not eclipsed 90 pitches.
MLB.com's No. 21 overall prospect said he didn't feel he was as sharp Tuesday as in his previous few outings, but found success pitching to contact and getting quick outs. 
The lanky 6-foot-5, 165-pounder finished five whiffs short of Minor League leader Alec Hansen, the White Sox No. 5 prospect, with 186 strikeouts last season for Class A Advanced Lynchburg, averaging 11.71 punchouts per nine innings. McKenzie has fanned just 26 in 32 1/3 frames this year with a 7.24 K/9 rate.
With his focus in the season's early months on getting healthier, the Royal Palm Beach, Florida native said his increased contact rate doesn't represent a change in approach on the mound.
"It's more filling up the zone and getting ahead of guys," he said. "Usually that leads to early contact and you're kind of getting through innings a little bit faster."
Gameday box score
Now that his arm is feeling "great," McKenzie isn't emphasizing strikeouts, since the differences in talent between the Carolina League and his current competition in Double-A represent a more immediate hurdle.
"It's ... understanding the level and understanding how to get guys out," he explained. "Being successful at this level and understanding what makes other guys successful at this level."
A two-out walk to Pirates No. 5 prospect Bryan Reynolds in the fourth inning was the only thing between McKenzie and perfection through six innings Tuesday. He recorded 10 outs through the air and five on the ground with three strikeouts -- including two of fourth-ranked Cole Tucker.
The first-round selection in the 2015 Draft got ahead of Hayes, 0-2, to start the seventh before Pittsburgh's No. 3 prospect lofted the three-bagger to center field. Already at 83 pitches, McKenzie struck out Reynolds on an eight-pitch at-bat to conclude his night. The Brooklyn-born right-hander wished he could have gotten a shot at finishing the inning, but understood the pitch count wasn't in his favor.

"Definitely glad to be going deeper into games and helping my team out a little bit more," he said. "If I'm going deeper into games and I'm doing that successfully, I'm doing something well on my part to try and win my team a game."
Right-handed side-armer Nick Pasquale took over for McKenzie and stranded Hayes at third with strikeouts of 16th-ranked Will Craig and Bralin Jackson. Pasquale walked one in a scoreless eighth before Henry Martinez got Craig to bounce into a game-ending double play after Hayes' ninth-inning single.
"It's huge having a bullpen that you can trust and knowing that when you're coming out of the game, regardless of whether there's guys on or not, you're going to get out of that," McKenzie said.
Cleveland's No. 26 prospect Tyler Krieger collected two hits, including a two-run double for Akron.