Pannone dominates in Double-A debut

Driving from Lynchburg, Virginia, to Akron, Ohio, Thomas Pannone took time to reflect on the season he's had so far.
"I took a moment to soak it in a bit," the Cleveland left-hander said. "I was thankful for the opportunity the Indians have given me. It's pretty awesome that I got to get up here as fast as I did, and I'm happy to be here. It's a great group of guys and I'm just really excited about it."
That was all the self-indulging Pannone allowed himself to have, because once it was time to make his Double-A debut, it was business as usual.
The 23-year-old, who carried a spotless ERA from the Midwest League into his first Eastern League start, allowed three hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings in Akron's 4-3 win over Trenton on Monday at Canal Park. He struck out six and walked three.

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"I didn't want to be overwhelmed by the moment," Pannone said. "I wanted to stay calm and I felt I did a good job with that. I didn't want to change anything I've been doing since the season started and I just brought that into today. I didn't want the moment to overtake me."
It didn't take long for the 2013 ninth-round pick to find his rhythm as he struck out Thairo Estrada and Jake Cave to start the game.
"It just let me ease into the outing and it let me be a little more comfortable," Pannone said. "I came out of the gates pretty hot and I just wanted to stay level-minded. I think I did a good job with that."
The Rhode Island native was promoted Friday from Lynchburg after tossing 27 2/3 scoreless innings in five starts for the Hillcats. He allowed one unearned run on 10 hits with 39 strikeouts and seven walks over that time.
"I was in Potomac after we just got rained out when my manager, Tony Mansolino, and my trainer, Bobby Ruiz, broke the news to me," Pannone said. "I was definitely thrilled to get the promotion. I had to cut [Mansolino] short when he was telling me because I was like, 'Hey, I've got to call my mom and dad real quick.' I went outside and called them and they were really happy for me too."
He showed more of his dominant form as he navigated a lineup that featured top-ranked Yankees prospect Gleyber Torres and ninth-ranked Miguel Andújar.

"They have some pretty good hitters in that lineup and I didn't want to take any of them lightly, whether it was the leadoff hitter, the four-hole hitter or the nine-hole hitter," Pannone said. "So I kind of attacked them all the same exact way. They had never seen me before and I had never seen them, so I just went about it like every other game that I've pitched so far and it worked out."
The biggest threat he faced came in the second inning when a single by Billy McKinney bookended walks to Zack Zehner and Jorge Saez with one out. Pannone struck out Devyn Bolasky and got Estrada to ground into a forceout to end the inning. 
"I know I have the scoreless streak going on, but I've been faced with adversity," he said. "I've had guys on base and I've thrown out of the stretch a lot. But everything has pretty much gone my way so far."

Pannone didn't factor into the decision after Trenton scored three runs in the eighth to take a 3-2 lead. Indians' fourth-ranked prospectBobby Bradley belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame to close the scoring.
Bradley and Francisco Mejía, the No. 35 overall prospect, each had two hits. Joe Sever hit a solo homer in the fifth for Akron.
McKinney fell a homer shy of the cycle for Trenton.