'Feel my presence': Guardians' Triston McKenzie attacks Yankees, reverses home run trend

CLEVELAND — Triston McKenzie said he purposefully wore an “All the Smoke” Josh Naylor T-shirt to the interview room.

In the case of Guardians' first baseman Naylor, the tee reflects his wild, emotional outbursts after home runs. For right-hander McKenzie, it represented his and his fellow pitchers’ offerings Sunday against the New York Yankees.

McKenzie versus the 2022 Bronx Bombers sounded like a bad matchup.

The Yankees lead the majors with 133 home runs. McKenzie came in allowing 15 long balls in seven of his previous eight starts going back to May 15.

In a dramatic 2-0 victory at Progressive Field, all the Yankees managed off McKenzie in seven innings was Josh Donaldson's broken-bat bloop single to left field in the fourth inning.

McKenzie has made 14 starts this season and said the only one that came close to matching this efficiency was the 6⅓ scoreless innings he threw at Oakland on May 1.

“Unbelievable,” Guardians designated hitter Franmil Reyes said of McKenzie. “Triston this year has been like the Triston you guys all know. He’s a very talented player, the way he pitches, his attitude, his focus, and today was a great performance.”

McKenzie (5-6, 3.71) struck out seven. He retired 10 consecutive batters to start the game until Giancarlo Stanton was the recipient of McKenzie’s only walk in the fourth.

“That was really impressive. We saw the first games, if you give them an inch, they’re gonna probably take ‘em out,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said as the Yankees won a day-night doubleheader Saturday, 13-4 and 6-1. “And he really pitched aggressively, stayed out of the middle, spun the ball. That was fun to watch.”

With 44 starts over three seasons, McKenzie recorded only the third start of his career when he struck out at least seven and allowed one or fewer hits in seven or more innings. He said an attacking mindset was key.

“One hundred percent,” McKenzie said. “I think going out there and trying to make them feel my presence, in terms of just establishing my dominance on the mound, per se, so they didn’t get comfortable and have those big swings. Or getting in counts or innings where they have runners on base and they feel comfortable trying to drive the ball in the gap or hit the ball over the fence.”

McKenzie has allowed 16 home runs this season, 12 of them solos. Francona and pitching coach Carl Willis remained unwavering in their support of McKenzie in part because of that, and Willis blamed McKenzie’s fastball command.

“I know the game in Minnesota, Nick Gordon hit a curve ball. That's going to happen,” Willis said pregame. “But when you look at a pitcher with Triston's profile — the elite riding fastball and that depth north-south curveball — I think those types of pitchers are maybe more prone to home runs when they miss their locations.

“I hate to bring up an old friend's name, but Bert Blyleven was homer-prone. I think in Triston's case, with the exception of two or three of the home runs, a lot of them predominantly have been solo homers. They're a lot easier to overcome than when there's a couple guys on. That's why I think he's done a better job of cutting down on his walks and those homers aren't as hard to overcome.”

McKenzie has now allowed one walk in each of his last four starts.

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McKenzie’s confidence remained unfazed by his penchant for home runs, even before he took the mound against the Yankees.

“Obviously it's a part of the game that he doesn't like when it happens, even if it is solo. But you can't start to be careful,” Willis said pregame. “You still have to maintain an aggressive mindset so that you bring your best stuff out of your hand each and every pitch. We like that confidence.”

In his previous two outings against the Minnesota Twins, McKenzie had given up 13 earned runs on 17 hits, including five home runs.

“I think the difference between this outing and the last couple outings was making them feel a little more uncomfortable at the plate and using all my pitches to both sides,” McKenzie said. “I used my curveball well to kind of slow them down. I think that just helped keep guys off balance and helped keep my heater kind of useful from the first inning to the last inning.

“The game can definitely swing in a second, especially with a big swinging team like that. But I think at the end of the day, that’s not what you have to think about. It’s more about going out there and getting outs and if you give up the big hit or the big run, minimizing from there on out. I think I just did a good job of that.”

McKenzie said he didn’t try to elevate his game because of the home run power of the Yankees, or their major-league high 58 victories.

“Not at all. I don’t think any of us came into this game looking at the Yankees as the No. 1 team in baseball,” McKenzie said. “We came out here looking at them as a team we have to beat. Things kinda didn’t swing our way the first two games yesterday and we just came out ready to win today.”

Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, who escaped a ninth-inning jam to pick up his 19th save, appreciated McKenzie’s performance.

“Yeah, it's very exciting to see him,” Clase said through a translator. “He works really hard, he's a great pitcher, so it's really nice to see him going after it pitch after pitch, inning after inning.”

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: Cleveland Guardians' Triston McKenzie shuts down Yankees power