“His future is what’s most important, and we want to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to get him where he needs to be,” Dragons manager Vince Harrison Jr. said.
Other than a couple first-inning pitches Burns would like to do over, he showed that his early development is on track in the Dragons’ 5-1 loss to Fort Wayne.
Burns struck out seven, allowed two hits, walked two and left the game trailing 1-0. Burns pitched four scoreless innings last Friday in his pro debut and the season opener.
“Felt good,” said Burns, whose fastball reached 97 mph. “Velocity was fine, definitely. The cold was probably cutting the ball a little bit. But other than that, body feels great, mind feels great. That’s all that matters.”
Another cold night, of course, kept some fans away, but the ones who came showed appreciation for Burns.
“It’s good to get out there in front of the home crowd,” he said. “Very welcoming. Heard a lot about this crowd. It was cold, but they still showed out.”
The attention from fans wanting autographs and the media wanting interviews kept Burns out in the cold after the game.
“It’s a big deal pitching here on Fridays, and it’s been a big deal with the cameras following him around all the time,” Harrison Jr. said. “I think he’s done a really good job handling it.”
The TinCaps, who scored one run the previous two nights in losses to the Dragons, were eager to see Burns and take their best shots.
“The hype’s real,” Harrison Jr. said. “You could tell after the first batter of the game they were ready. They took advantage of the one mistake he made in that first inning.”
Burns walked Brandon Butterworth on five pitches to start the game. Then with one out, Brendan Durfee ripped an RBI double.
“That first he inning he didn’t have a great feel for his fastball,” Harrison Jr. said. “He missed it — small misses — on the leadoff guy with the walk to a guy who can run. Then he left that breaking ball up to Durfee who’s one of their better hitters."
Then Burns struck out the next two to end the inning. A two-out walk in the second inning and leadoff single in the fourth didn’t hurt him.
“Definitely felt like I settled in there after the first couple batters,” Burns said. “That happens. It’s still very early in the season. It’s only my second outing. You only go up from here.”
No matter how a start goes for a pitcher there is much to analyze and sometimes corrections to make.
“I definitely want to work on some mechanics and stuff and just build up for the next start,” Burns said. “I probably left some over the middle over the plate, which I feel like go back to mechanics.”
Fort Wayne (4-3) pushed the lead to 4-0 in the sixth inning, and the Dragons (2-5) couldn’t find a way back into the game, finishing with four hits and three walks.
Brody Jesse, after pitching a scoreless fifth, allowed three runs in the sixth, an inning that Brian Edgington finished. A pair of bloop singles were the key hits for the TinCaps. Butterworth scored after his leadoff double in the seventh for their final run.
The Dragons’ only run came in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Connor Burns.
TinCaps starter Enmanuel Pinales, who pitched in the league last year, allowed one hit, two walks and struck out seven in five innings.
The Dragons’ best chance for a big inning came with the bases loaded in the fourth on walks to Yerlin Confidan and Carlos Jorge sandwiched around a single by Leo Balcazar. But Ariel Almonte struck out and Ricardo Cabrera grounded into a double play.
“You’re going to have nights like this,” Harrison Jr. said. “We’re facing Pinales, he’s familiar with the league, he knows what it takes. He did a good job mixing his pitches, throwing both sides of the plate. He was throwing some pretty good changeups off his fastball early. So a little credit to him for pitching well, too.”
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