Puk fans a dozen in longest outing as a pro

A.J. Puk checked off a few important boxes in his start on Saturday and he did it against the best offense in the California League. 
The A's second-ranked prospect shattered his career high with 12 strikeouts and put together the longest outing of his career by working 6 2/3 innings as Class A Advanced Stockton rolled past Lancaster, 9-3, at Banner Island Ballpark.

"This is the best hitting team in the California League," Stockton manager Rick Magnante said. "They're hitting over .300 as a club, which is unheard of. When you do what A.J. did against this type of team, you've got to be impressed with that."
Puk (4-4), who allowed three runs on four hits and two walks, fanned each member of the JetHawks lineup at least once and struck out the side twice.
Gameday box score
It was the third straight dominant start for the 2016 first-round pick. After hurling 5 1/3 hitless innings on May 22, Puk tossed five one-hit frames on May 27. 
"I see a growth in terms of his pitchability and understanding of having a game plan and being able to execute it," Magnante said. "He used a real good mix tonight and kept them off-balance and put the hitters away early in counts. He's using his stuff effectively."
The opening inning provided little trouble for Puk (4-4), who set Lancaster down in order. He struck out the side in the second and third. And even though the University of Florida product was striking out hitters at an impressive clip, his manager was pleased with his efficiency. 
"He was able to put away hitters early in the game," Magnante said. "He'll continue to strike hitters out at this level, but as he develops his pitchability he'll learn that he doesn't need to strike everybody out, he just needs to get them out, which was the old adage of Sandy Koufax. I think that adage would be applicable to A.J. as well."
Lancaster plated its first run in the fourth, but Puk retired the next seven batters to work into the sixth inning for the first time in his career. 
"He had good fastball command and a good angle to the mitt when he was in the zone," Magnante said. "He showed a good curveball with decent shape and tight action to it, as well as the slider. His change had really good arm speed and created deception."
Puk issued his first walk of the game to open the seventh, then struck out the next two hitters. After allowing an RBI double to Mylz Jones, MLB.com's No. 61 overall prospect walked Chris Rabago on his 98th and final pitch. 
"He fatigued a little bit in the seventh and lost a little bit of his command, but that's to be expected. I think he had a stellar outing tonight," Magnante said.
Puk leads all Class A Advanced pitchers and ranks third in the Minor Leagues with 81 strikeouts. In 12 appearances, including nine starts, the 22-year-old left-hander has a 3.51 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and .177 opponents' batting average. In addition to striking out 38 percent of the batters he's faced, he's allowed one homer over 51 1/3 innings -- none since April 14.

"He's got exceptional velocity. When you're sitting 95 and you're going 88 to 99, kids aren't going to catch up to everything," Magnante said. "Although maybe everything isn't located, he's still overmatching hitters. Overall, he's got good downhill plane to the fastball; that and the velocity of the pitch helps him. It's not a one-plane pitch, it's top-to-bottom."
A's No. 14 prospect Sean Murphy collected three hits, including a solo homer, and Branden Cogswell plated a pair of runs for the Ports.