Kuchno makes best start for Marauders

While he was pleased with his outing on Friday night, John Kuchno wants more.

The Pirates prospect yielded two hits over seven scoreless innings but did not figure in the decision as Class A Advanced Bradenton dropped a 3-2 decision to visiting Tampa.

Kuchno walked one batter and struck out four in his 11th start for the Marauders. He faced two over the minimum, inducing 11 ground-ball outs.

"I was really just pounding the strike zone, to be honest," the 23-year-old right-hander said. "Making them beat me, I was able to show some good stuff and mix it up at times. The defense was just outstanding, all credit to them. I got a lot of ground balls."

Kuchno (3-4) was coming off a start in which he surrendered five runs on six hits over 2 2/3 innings on May 24 against Charlotte. He had been pitching well before that outing, allowing no more than two earned runs in seven straight Florida State League starts.

"I'm happy with the performance, but I'm not satisfied," he said. "I've struggled as of late, so I need to get more consistent. I just need to get some consistency so that I can really contribute every five days.

"As simple as this is, I was just throwing more strikes. I struggled early in my last couple of starts, so it was good to get off to a good start and just get some rhythm and tempo on the mound. Once I had those, I just kept running with it."

Command has been the biggest problem this season for the Ohio State product, who'd walked 26 batters over 43 2/3 innings in his first 10 starts. So matching a season low in that category was a big deal.

"I think it was just getting ahead of hitters," he said. "Going into the game, that was really important to me. I talked to my pitching coach, Justin Meccage, about that going into the outing. Just pounding the strike zone early and not falling behind guys, that was really important for me."

Kuchno left with a 2-0 lead, but Pat Ludwig (2-1) gave up three runs -- two earned -- on three hits over two innings.

Josh Bell, the Pirates' No. 6 prospect, provided the Marauders' offense with a two-run single in the third.

Dante Bichette Jr. slugged a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth after Zach Wilson got the Yankees on the board with a solo shot in the eighth. Bichette, the reigning FSL Player of the Week, has four homers and 18 RBIs in his last 10 games.