CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Triston McKenzie set a new Indians club record for consecutive strikeouts Monday afternoon by fanning eight straight White Sox hitters in Game 1 of their doubleheader.
Kluber set the previous mark of seven straight in May 2014, ironically, also against the White Sox.
“It’s not that big of a deal, to me,” McKenzie said. “Personally, I think it’s more [about] just try and go out there and win games.”
The Indians lost 8-6 in eight innings but a rally in the sixth helped McKenzie avoid a fourth loss this season when the Indians tied the game at 5.
McKenzie was on the ropes in the second inning that saw Chicago score four runs, but two of them were due to defensive lapses – an error on Cesar Hernandez, who homered in his first two plate appearances, and on a rundown when Tim Anderson got caught stealing second but stayed in it long enough to allow Zack Collins to scoot home from third.
McKenzie responded by striking out 2 of 3 hitters in the third inning and K-ing the side in the fourth and fifth innings to tie Kluber’s mark.
“I think what we’re seeing is that when he does have a walk, he doesn’t turn it into two or three,” manager Terry Francona said of the improvement McKenzie has shown in his last two starts. “He’s gathering himself and he’s coming back and using his best stuff. That’s a big step for him.”
In the sixth, McKenzie struck out Jake Lamb to set the new team record before allowing a single to Yoan Moncada to snap the streak, and end his afternoon.
The 10 strikeouts overall for McKenzie tied a career high for the young right-hander, set last August during his Major League debut against the Tigers.
“I was getting ahead of guys,” McKenzie said. “My fastball was working up in the zone, curveball down. My slider worked too. I think I was just keeping them guessing and I credit a lot of that to [catcher] Rene [Rivera].”
With three off days in the next week, McKenzie will be sent back to Triple-A Columbus, and he’ll finally make a start for the Clippers because Cleveland won’t need a fifth starter for 10 days.
The Indians originally optioned him on May 10 to work on his command and other aspects of his game but were forced to have him to make two starts due to injuries and doubleheaders.
“The past two starts have been more of an indication of who I would like to be as a pitcher in terms of how I would like to attack hitters and how I can actually get outs,” McKenzie said. “Hopefully I can continue going in this direction.”
