The Cleveland Baseball Club pitcher dominated the Detroit Tigers as he struck out 11 batters in 8 innings with 7.2 of them perfect.
Absolutely dominant, that is the way to describe the performance from Triston McKenzie Sunday afternoon. McKenzie faced the Detroit Tigers on the road and all eyes were on someone else who happened to be in the other dugout, Miguel Cabrera. The fans who swarmed Comerica Park were expecting to see a historical moment from one of the best sluggers in the game, his 500th career home run. While Miggy still is waiting to achieve that notable feat, the fans in attendance nearly saw a different historical moment, a perfect game.
Triston McKenzie was mowing down batter after batter in Detroit. There was not a batter in the Tigers lineup who could touch anything that McKenzie hurled over the plate. McKenzie displayed a level of confidence that is usually seen from players who are 5-10 years his senior. There was one distinguishable difference from McKenzie in this outing when compared to his earlier appearances, his command. 73 of his 106 pitches went for strikes, a stark contrast to when he was walking just about anyone who stepped into the batter’s box.
Perhaps a factor that played into Triston McKenzie’s confidence was the fact he did not have to seriously worry about the final outcome of the contest. Cleveland had tallied 11 runs by the 3rd inning, essentially securing a victory early in the game. Not having to worry about whether the team would win or lose could have played into just how spectacular his performance was Sunday afternoon.
While the outing was incredible, it was not perfect. Triston McKenzie allowed his first baserunner, a single into right field off the bat of Harold Castro, in the bottom of the 8th. McKenzie would finish the game with a career-high 11 strikeouts in a career-high 8 innings pitched. Almost perfect will be how this game will be remembered as Cleveland still waits for their next no-hitter or perfect game, the longest active drought in baseball (40 years).
