CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Konnor Pilkington has run into trouble before, but he’s worked himself out of a jam or two.
Typically, those hiccups come early in his outings, but Wednesday afternoon the left-hander turned in the finest performance of his young career in his third Major League start.
Pilkington tossed five scoreless innings while striking out eight and walking just two, earning his first Major League victory in a 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field.
“I thought today his warmup for the game was noticeably improved. It’s like he was ready to start the game,” said pitching coach Carl Willis. “I think we’ve seen in a couple of starts he’s made; high pitch counts in the first inning and he kind of gets better as he goes.”
The eight strikeouts and five innings were both career-highs for Pilkington. Through 17 innings this season, he’s struck out 23 batters.
“I’ve been working on (my approach) since last outing. Just having a plan going into the game and executed the plan,” Pilkington said. “(Establish) the fastball, throw the changeup when I need to and mix in the slider. The fastball really worked well for me, and I knew it in the bullpen before the game.”
In his first two starts, Pilkington had given up five earned runs over the first two innings of each outing. But he settled in and didn’t allow a run in any other frame.
Against the Royals, he was sharp from his first offering, striking out the side in the first inning on the way to tossing the 13th quality start in the last 15 games for the Cleveland pitching staff. They’ve pitched to the tune of a 2.52 ERA during that span, the lowest mark in the majors.
“Up until today he’s had to grind. But he never stops competing and he never stops attempting to attack the strike zone, which today he was able to do consistently,” Willis said.
Pilkington didn’t run into any trouble until the fourth where he issued a leadoff walk and a single to M.J. Melendez. Hunter Dozier struck out looking before Carlos Santana singled to right field to load the bases with one out.
That’s when Willis made a visit to the mound with a brief message to his young pitcher, protecting a 1-0 lead: trust your stuff.
“I just wanted him to give himself a chance to attack the strike zone, and he came out and executed it perfectly,” Willis said. “He threw a fastball down and away, then another fastball. Then we brushed him off and got him with a changeup. Then we bounced out (Nicky) Lopez.”
Indeed, the left-hander bared down to strike out Emmanuel Rivera and forced Nicky Lopez into a groundout to avert any further danger.
“I knew I needed to have some kind of action, maybe a strikeout or a double play ball or something like that,” Pilkington said. “My stuff plays, just trusting my stuff, trusting my fastball, my changeup. Being able to locate those pitched and when they start getting on them, being able to relocate and readjust.”
Andres Gimenez gave Pilkington and the Guardians a little breathing room with an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning and improved his average with runners in scoring position to .421 (16-for-38) this season.
The Guardians added a tally in each of the fifth and sixth innings, but the pitching staff needed little run support against the Royals. Eli Morgan picked up the baton in the sixth inning and posted two more zeroes while striking out four more, helping pitch Cleveland to its first shutout of the season.
“He (Morgan) attacks the strike zone with three pitches, sometimes four. Everyone on the opposition they’re always aware of that changeup and when it’s coming,” Willis said. “Now we’re seeing the fastball at 93-95. That makes it difficult that he has so much separation in speeds between his changeup and the fastball.”
He has no fear. He attacks hitters, he makes them swing the bat and his stuff is Major League stuff.”
Bryan Shaw and Emmanuel Clase worked a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, respectively while combining to strike out three batters. The 15 punchouts were a season-high for the Guardians hurlers.
“I think regardless of their experience, the one thing that you try to be is calm and confident. We all know the situation when situations present themselves,” Willis said. “I think it’s just a matter, and maybe more so with the younger pitchers but with veterans as well, to have that calm and that confidence so that they don’t think they have to do more.”
NOTES – Guardians’ pitcher James Karinchak is expected to make a rehab appearance with Triple-A Columbus Wednesday evening. Willis said Karinchak will get roughly one inning of work and throw somewhere between 20-25 pitches.
Karinchak has yet to make an appearance this season while he deals with a shoulder injury.
“He’s thrown three, maybe four live batting practice sessions and he’s ready for game action,” Willis said.
