Fingernail contusion ends Klassen's 2nd MLB start early

CINCINNATI -- It was a rough day all around for George Klassen.

The rookie right-hander, making his first career Major League road start and just his second big league start overall, left with an index fingernail contusion on his pitching hand after facing just one batter in the bottom of the third Saturday afternoon as the Angels fell to the Reds, 7-3, at Great American Ball Park.

After a walk to Tyler Stephenson, manager Kurt Suzuki, pitching coach Mike Maddux and trainer Mike Frostad came out to the pitcher’s mound to examine Klassen, the No. 4 rated prospect in the Angels system. After several minutes, he was lifted for lefty reliever Brent Suter.

“I don't know when it really happened,” Suzuki said. “I didn't hear about it until Maddux went out and he saw him looking at his finger, and that's when he went out there to check it, because he kept looking down at his finger.”

Klassen said after the game that the injury was something he started to feel in the first inning and it was an issue he has had to manage in the past. Suzuki said he’ll have to check with Klassen and talk with his staff to see if the righty can make his next scheduled start Thursday in New York against the Yankees.

Klassen retired the first batter he faced in the first, TJ Friedl, on a strikeout. But then the next six batters reached, highlighted by a three-run double down the right-field line by Nathaniel Lowe. Cincinnati ended the first with a 4-0 lead.

Spencer Steer added a solo home run off the left-field foul pole in the second for a 5-0 Cincinnati lead after two innings.

Klassen was charged with five runs on five hits in his two-plus innings, walking five and striking out just two while tossing 72 pitches, with only 34 strikes. Klassen didn’t want to blame the lack of control on his fingernail.

“Yeah, it was [bothersome], but still pretty inexcusable,” Klassen lamented. “[The] results kind of put the bullpen in a tough spot, and I just have to make adjustments for the next time so I can help our offense and defense out.”

“He was obviously battling that nail,” Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe said. “I thought that played a factor, but he kept his composure well, and they had some good takes on [good] pitches, too. He still kept his composure and had his stuff.”

Klassen has walked 10 batters and struck out six in just 4 2/3 innings over his first two Major League starts.

“Definitely just [need to make] adjustments in between,” Klassen said. “There's still times where I work a little too fast, trying to be a little bit too perfect, but I mean, I just need to make adjustments in between starts and get out there again.”

“I think he was fine,” said Suzuki. “But a tough outing for him. You definitely like your starter to go deeper into the games. And with a young pitcher, you're gonna go through these growing pains of some ups and downs, and you just gotta keep trucking through.”

Klassen was far from the only one feeling the pain of a long, arduous day in Cincinnati.

The two teams combined for 18 walks, nine by each side. Angels reliever Chase Silseth had a very difficult time recording the final out of the eighth, walking four and throwing three wild pitches, the last two accounting for the Reds’ final two runs of the day.

Then there was the day Suzuki had from the dugout. He had to pull his starting pitcher one batter into the third inning. He watched as Jo Adell was rung up on a called third strike after Cincinnati catcher Stephenson -- with ball in hand -- waited a moment before challenging the original ball call. The overturned call ended the sixth inning with a runner in scoring position.

To cap it off, he watched another tough call go against his team when O’Hoppe was called out for running inside the baseline and on the infield grass while Stephenson threw down to first base to complete a strikeout. O’Hoppe beat the throw that was caught by first baseman Sal Stewart, but he was still called out for interference for the first out of the eighth. A frustrated Suzuki had seen enough and argued until he was ejected by home-plate umpire Adam Beck.

All in all, it was a long, ugly day for the Angels.