Rijo thrice as nice on hill for Kernels

Once is chance, twice is coincidence, but with his third straight start allowing one hit over five scoreless innings, Luis Rijo is definitely creating a pattern. A pattern that began with a focus on refining control of his heater.
The 30th-ranked Twins prospect struck out five and issued one walk as Class A Cedar Rapids scratched out a 3-2, 11-inning victory over Peoria on Friday at Dozer Park. The right-hander threw 47 of 70 pitches for strikes.

Gameday box score
In his last three starts, the 20-year-old has 14 punchouts against four walks over 15 innings while lowering his ERA from 4.02 to 2.72.
"There was a little inconsistent movement with the fastball, so he focused on correcting that the last few weeks, and that's really paying off for him," Kernels pitching coach Virgil Vasquez said. "He's trusting it now and continuing to be aggressive with it and stay ahead in the count -- and tonight, that was really the difference for him."
Against the Chiefs, the Venezuela native yielded a single to right field to leadoff man Delvin Perez in the opening frame. From there, he retired Brady Whalen on a liner to second, whiffed Cardinals No. 18 prospectIvan Herrera, then ended the inning when catcher Ben Rodriguez caught Perez trying to steal second.
"He didn't really have his breaking ball working early, but he pitched well with his fastball and stayed aggressive with it," Vasquez said. "Then, as the game progressed, he got a better feel for his breaking pitches and used them to complement his fastball, and that really helped him."
Rijo faced the minimum through 4 1/3 frames -- after Leandro Cedeno reached on an error by third baseman Estamy Urena in the third, he was erased when 23rd-ranked prospect Wadye Ynfante grounded into a double play -- and only one of those outs was recorded beyond the infield.
After issuing a five-pitch walk to Brendan Donovan in the fifth, the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder finished his outing by setting down Bryce Denton on a slow comebacker and winning a seven-pitch battle with Cedeno by recording his fifth strikeout.
Rijo's worst outing of the season came on May 14 when he surrendered seven runs -- two earned -- on eight hits and four walks while fanning three over 4 2/3 innings against Quad Cities. He started his current streak on May 20 against Burlington but was placed on the seven-day injured list following that outing. He returned on June 13 and picked up where he left off -- throwing 57 pitches to navigate through five one-hit frames without issuing a walk and striking out three against Wisconsin.
"He has been really confident ever since coming back from missing that time," Vasquez said. "His fastball has just been really alive and his willingness to attack hitters is one of his strong suits.
"He's always been a guy that wants the ball though and is ready to go. He's always had that 'Give me the ball, I want to pitch and I'm going to get these guys out' mentality. He's always had that demeanor. That's why we wanted to get him from the Yankees."
Rijo was signed by the Yankees on July 2, 2015 and appeared in 27 games with the organization before being dealt to the Twins last July 30 with first baseman Tyler Austin for veteran right-hander Lance Lynn and cash. Rijo finished last season with Rookie Advanced Elizabethton, where he was 2-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in five starts.

Rijo left Friday's game with a 2-0 advantage after Trevor Casanova drove in the Kernels' first run with a double in the third and Twins No. 16 prospect Gilberto Celestino grounded into a bases-loaded double play that plated Urena.
Peoria tied it in the ninth on back-to-back dingers by Herrera and Juan Yepez.
Casanova opened the 11th as the designated runner and scored the go-ahead run on a one-out double down the left field line by Celestino. Alex Schick (2-1) notched the victory with two scoreless innings, walking one and fanning three.