Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona was complementary of Chase Burns’ debut outing Tuesday night against the New York Yankees.Having been selected with the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, Burns was called up after just 13 appearances in the minor leagues.In his first big league appearance, he was impressive, striking out eight batters over five innings of work. Six of those strikeouts came in his first two innings.He became the first pitcher in 64 years to strike out each of the first five batters he faced.”That was pretty cool,” Francona said after the game about Burns’ hot start. “We kind of watch for everything and he didn’t get too excited. I think he enjoyed the competition.”Burns’ only trouble spot Tuesday came in the fourth inning, when the Yankees touched him for three runs. When asked about the mental toughness of the rookie, Francona said going out for a scoreless fifth is part of the game.”I don’t think giving up a couple of runs is going to make someone fold,” he said of his rookie. “If that was the case, we wouldn’t have brought him up.”Along with limitations in place by the organization, Francona said he took Burns out of the game after the fifth because he was starting to look a bit fatigued.”I think, for him, he was a little over-amped. You could tell he was starting to run out of gas a little bit,” Francona said.Baseball Savant, MLB’s advanced analytics website, showed Burns sitting mostly in the mid-90s with his fastball in the fifth, topping out at 99 mph in a foul-tip strikeout against Trent Grisham and 98.1 mph in his final pitch of the night, a foul out to first base off the bat of Aaron Judge.Of the 81 pitches Burns threw Tuesday night, 53 went for strikes. It’s a strategy of attack that Francona thanks for new technology in the minor leagues that, one day, will make its way to the bigs.”I think in Triple-A, I know he was only there twice, but I think the fact that he was there with the ABS (automatic balls and strikes) is probably really beneficial to guys, because they have to pitch in the zone,” he said. “I think it’s good for him to see that his stuff plays in the zone. His stuff, his slider, is really good.”Burns’ slider was his second-most used pitch Tuesday night, averaging a velocity of 89.4 mph.

CINCINNATI —

Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona was complementary of Chase Burns’ debut outing Tuesday night against the New York Yankees.

Having been selected with the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, Burns was called up after just 13 appearances in the minor leagues.

In his first big league appearance, he was impressive, striking out eight batters over five innings of work. Six of those strikeouts came in his first two innings.

He became the first pitcher in 64 years to strike out each of the first five batters he faced.

“That was pretty cool,” Francona said after the game about Burns’ hot start. “We kind of watch for everything and he didn’t get too excited. I think he enjoyed the competition.”

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Burns’ only trouble spot Tuesday came in the fourth inning, when the Yankees touched him for three runs. When asked about the mental toughness of the rookie, Francona said going out for a scoreless fifth is part of the game.

“I don’t think giving up a couple of runs is going to make someone fold,” he said of his rookie. “If that was the case, we wouldn’t have brought him up.”

Along with limitations in place by the organization, Francona said he took Burns out of the game after the fifth because he was starting to look a bit fatigued.

“I think, for him, he was a little over-amped. You could tell he was starting to run out of gas a little bit,” Francona said.

Baseball Savant, MLB’s advanced analytics website, showed Burns sitting mostly in the mid-90s with his fastball in the fifth, topping out at 99 mph in a foul-tip strikeout against Trent Grisham and 98.1 mph in his final pitch of the night, a foul out to first base off the bat of Aaron Judge.

Of the 81 pitches Burns threw Tuesday night, 53 went for strikes. It’s a strategy of attack that Francona thanks for new technology in the minor leagues that, one day, will make its way to the bigs.

“I think in Triple-A, I know he was only there twice, but I think the fact that he was there with the ABS (automatic balls and strikes) is probably really beneficial to guys, because they have to pitch in the [strike] zone,” he said. “I think it’s good for him to see that his stuff plays in the zone. His stuff, his slider, is really good.”

Burns’ slider was his second-most used pitch Tuesday night, averaging a velocity of 89.4 mph.