'Don't think he has issues': Guardians not alarmed by Triston McKenzie's home run total

CLEVELAND — Triston McKenzie knows his Achilles heel.

The 24-year-old Guardians right-hander gave up his ninth and 10th home runs this month and ran his season total to 16 in Monday night’s 11-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field.

But manager Terry Francona looks at the math and doesn’t find those numbers particularly alarming.

“I don’t think he has issues,” Francona said. “On some of the days he’s given up runs, he’s given up two home runs in seven innings, we’ll take that.

“I think it’s probably a little different every time out. I think in the past he’s given up some solos, which isn’t the worst thing in the world when you’re not giving up other runs.”

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Going back to May 15, McKenzie has allowed 15 homers in seven of his last eight starts. The only time McKenzie has kept the ball in the park during that span came at Colorado on June 16, a 4-2 victory as McKenzie (now 4-6 with a 4.03 ERA) picked up his fourth win of the season.

To Francona’s point, Guardians foes got to McKenzie for five home runs — all solos — in his last three starts in May, but in two of those McKenzie took the loss. For the season, 12 of McKenzie’s 16 home runs allowed have been solos.

“I think home runs are a part of the game,” McKenzie said. “I think it’s more just figuring out a way to limit the amount of runs that I give up beforehand.”

McKenzie lamented that in the second inning he hit the Twins' Alex Kirilloff with a pitch, then Gio Urshela doubled before Gary Sanchez sent a three-run, 430-foot shot to left field. It was the second-longest home run hit at Progressive Field this season, trailing only a 447-footer by Boston’s Alex Verdugo on June 25.

In the sixth, Sanchez singled before Nick Gordon’s home run to right field increased the Twins’ lead to 7-0.

“There was a case in Baltimore where I walked two guys beforehand,” McKenzie said. “It’s more solo homers are OK because it’s one run. But when you allow those to kind of compound and you give up hits or you walk guys beforehand and one-run home runs turn into two- or three-run home runs, that’s when they really change the game.”

McKenzie gave much of the credit to the Twins after they pounded out 14 hits and extended their lead over the Guardians in the AL Central to three games.

“The Twins are a team that we play pretty consistently, so I think they go up there with pretty solid approaches,” McKenzie said. “They came ready.

“I felt like I was competitive with a lot of my stuff, but I just felt that they’re a good hitting team and they’re just way too comfortable at the plate.”

Last season in 25 games (24 starts), McKenzie allowed 21 home runs in 120 innings. This season, he's pitched 80.1 innings. But Francona liked much of what he saw from McKenzie.

“I thought tonight his stuff was really good. Even in his last inning, the ball was going through the zone really well,” Francona said. “He just caught too much of the plate with too many pitches and some lineups will make you pay more than others.”

Third baseman Ernie Clement pitches for Cleveland Guardians

With a day-night doubleheader against the Twins on Tuesday, Francona protected his bullpen and sent in third baseman Ernie Clement to pitch the ninth.

Clement allowed two runs on four hits, but ended the inning by getting Sanchez to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. That was no easy feat as Sanchez went 3-for-5 with four RBIs.

Clement became the first Cleveland position player to pitch since Mike Freeman took the mound on June 29, 2019.

“I wish I could have given up less hits,” Clement said. “It was cool and it saves the bullpen, so that's good."

At 4:30 p.m., Clement was catching teammates in the bullpen. In the bottom of the seventh, he went in to run for Jose Ramirez and play third.

“Kind of a whirlwind, but whatever they need I'm going to go out and try to do my best. Whether it was catching, pitching or picking Josey up, I'll do it,” Clement said.

McKenzie appreciated all Clement gave the Guardians.

“I love that guy to death. He does it all,” McKenzie said. “I think he’s a guy that just brings morale to the team because you know that he’s gonna do whatever he needs to do to get the team a little bit more energy and whatever he needs to do to finish the game.”

Clement said he threw a couple knuckleballs, one behind former Cleveland third baseman Urshela.

“I had to send him a message after his couple of hits today. I threw that knuckleball behind him just to let him know,” Clement joked. “Honestly, I was kind of sweaty. I was a little nervous. I think it might have slipped out of my hand a little bit.”

Clement left with two baseballs as mementos, including the double-play ball.

“No strikeout, but I wouldn't want to do that to those Twins over there,” he said.

Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez leads AL third baseman in All-Star voting

Guardians MVP candidate Jose Ramirez leads American League third basemen in voting for the 2022 All-Star Game. In totals released by MLB, Ramirez (1,219,704) led Boston’s Rafael Devers (1,185,906) by over 30,000 votes. Ramirez has been selected a starter in three of his previous four All-Star appearances.

Second baseman Andres Gimenez (819,163) stood third at his position behind Houston’s Jose Altuve (1,156,474) and Toronto’s Santiago Espinal (943,125). Gimenez drew nearly 2,000 votes closer to Espinal since the previous update.

Phase 1 of the voting closes on June 30 at 2 p.m., with the top two at each position advancing to the next phase of voting to determine the game’s starters.

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians can live with Triston McKenzie's solo homers