Improving Hillman flirts with no-hitter

Juan Hillman swears he felt better than his 6.22 ERA indicated entering Class A Lake County's Wednesday matinee. That number had been on a steady decline since a rough April in which he gave up 20 earned runs in 17 innings, and he could feel the confidence rising ever slightly.
"I won't say it was sky high before today, but it was pretty high," the Indians' No. 11 prospect said. "These last couple outings, I kept getting one step closer, one mistake closer to being where I need to be. Maybe in my last start, I made three mistakes and give up some runs here and there. But that was better than earlier when I'd make five mistakes or something. I just had to keep that mentality and trust that process that a great day would come."

If Hillman made any mistakes Wednesday, they didn't appear in the box score. He carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and completed seven frames for his first scoreless outing since July 10, 2016, but the Captains fell to the Great Lakes Loons, 4-0, at Classic Park. He matched a career high with eight strikeouts while allowing just one hit and two walks.
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"My fastball location took a big step forward today and that was very exciting," said Hillman, whose ERA dropped to 5.60. "I was able to put it and in out, keep hitters off balance and it helped my off-speed play as well. It came down to repeating my delivery more and staying better on my back leg, so that I was getting on the front with more authority. I have to focus more on throwing through the catcher, and that happened pretty well today."
The 20-year-old southpaw retired the first 17 Loons he faced before a walk to Gersel Pitre. One frame later Cody Thomas struck a one-out double to right field. Hillman walked cleanup hitter Keibert Ruiz, a .313 switch-hitter this season, on a 3-2 curveball to put two on with one out. That prompted a mound visit from Captains pitching coach Jason Blanton.
"I didn't have a problem with the walk because I knew that hitter could be really aggressive to drive in the run, but he came out asking, 'What're you thinking?'" Hillman said. "I knew how my fastball was feeling, so I wanted to come in on the next guy and try to get a ground ball. When I said that, he said, 'Right on,' and I went back to attacking hitters again."
The 2015 second-rounder got Oneil Cruz to bounce into a 6-4 forceout and ended the threat by striking out Mitchell Hansen. His day was officially done after 90 pitches, 57 of them strikes. 
Hillman said the key to his first spectacular outing of 2017 was an ability to find his form early on. The left-hander entered the day with a 7.62 ERA and six homers allowed in the first inning, but once his delivery locked in, he knew it could be a special outing. That didn't keep Blanton off his case, though.
"I'm trying not to let my lower half flop out because that's when I get into trouble," Hillman said. "When that happens, [Blanton] will yell at me from the dugout. 'Hey, Juan.' I'll just give him that nod that I know exactly what he's talking about and try to tighten things up again. For the most part, I was good about that today, but it's good to have that reminder."
He'll likely end June with a 2.89 ERA over five starts this month, down from 10.59 in April and 5.26 in May. About halfway through his first campaign with a full-season club, the Winter Haven, Florida native feels like a much different pitcher than the one that left Spring Training almost three months ago.

"It's night and day," Hillman said. "My teammates can vouch for me on that. All the work I've been putting in is slowly paying off. It's not as fast as I'd like obviously, and I won't tell you I'm enjoying the ups and downs. But I'm just trusting the process, and I know the whole experience is going to make me a better pitcher."
Great Lakes eventually came away with the win after Ruiz smacked a grand slam in the ninth off reliever Ryder Ryan. Jacob Lee (0-1) suffered with the loss after loading the bases.
Loons starter A.J. Alexy allowed two hits and three walks while striking out six in five frames.