Esparza dominates in RubberDucks debut

It took Matt Esparza an inning to shake off the nerves in his Double-A debut. Once he did, he was nearly untouchable.
The Cleveland right-hander allowed a run on three hits and struck out 10 batters over a career-high eight innings as Double-A Akron edged Altoona, 4-2, at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

Esparza (1-0) got third-ranked Pirates prospectKevin Newman to fly out to start the game. But he hit Kevin Kramer before surrendering a double to Connor Joe and an RBI single to Edwin Espinal to give the Curve the early lead.
Gameday box score
"There was a little bit of nerves and trying to get comfortable," the 22-year-old said. "There was an adjustment in my delivery, one that I've had to make in the past. I realized after the first inning that I was going to need to make the adjustment, just getting the ball down, finishing pitches pretty much."
After striking out Jordan Luplow and Chase Simpson to end the first, Esparza retired 17 straight over the next six frames. The 2015 14th-round pick gave up a triple to Simpson with two outs in the seventh, but struck out three of the next four batters to make it through eight innings. After Espinal's hit in the first, he set down 23 of 24 hitters.

"I was just throwing strikes, working with [catcher Francisco Mejía], " Esparza said. "He was calling it and guiding me through the lineup, so I was working with him and trusting him and trying to make good pitches."
The California native entered Wednesday's start with a 3-3 record and a 3.26 ERA over 47 innings in nine starts for Class A Advanced Lynchburg. At the time of his promotion, he ranked second on the team with 40 strikeouts behind third-ranked Cleveland prospectTriston McKenzie's 66.
Esparza improved to 4-3 and lowered his ERA to 2.95 over 55 frames across both levels this season.
"It's good to get the first one out of the way," he said. "I'm looking forward to working with [Akron pitching coach Tony Arnold] and finding a role on the team."

Mejia chipped in offensively as well, collecting two hits to bolster his average to .331. Indians No. 11 prospect Yu-Cheng Chang tripled, doubled and drove in two.
Akron righty Mitch Brown recorded the final three outs while allowing a run on two hits and a walk for his third save.
Altoona starter Tanner Anderson (2-6) yielded four runs on six hits while walking one and fanning eight over seven frames.