For the first time since Sept. 18, 1966, the Indians recorded nine strikeouts through the first three innings on Saturday afternoon, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That stat alone sounds like the Cleveland pitching staff was absolutely dominant, but somehow, the team found itself in a five-run deficit through those three frames.

It was an outing that happens so rarely in the Majors. Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie had six strikeouts with just one hit through the first two innings, but the one hit was a grand slam by Tim Anderson, and the right-hander also permitted four walks. The performance put the Indians in an early hole that they couldn’t dig out of, resulting in a 7-3 loss to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“That was the strangest – I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before,” manager Terry Francona said. “They put one ball in play, but they have five runs. He either struck them out or walked them. It was frustrating because I thought he really came out of the chute and had good stuff. And he just lost the strike zone, and he paid the price for it.”

McKenzie was pulled after just two innings (57 pitches) following Anderson’s grand slam, which was preceded by three consecutive batters walked. He became just the fourth pitcher since at least 1974 to have four-or-more walks with at least six strikeouts through two innings -- the first since Carlos Martínez on April 15, 2017.

Now, the question is: Can the Indians afford to have another laboring starter? McKenzie’s struggles become a bigger issue now that Cleveland had to option starter Logan Allen to the alternate training site just three days ago due to similar problems. However, Cleveland doesn't seem to be concerned at this point.

Let’s take a look at three things that could be alarming about McKenzie’s most recent outing and why the club isn’t pressing the panic button:

1) Walks
McKenzie entered Saturday’s start averaging 7.6 walks per nine innings, which ranked second behind Pittsburgh’s Chad Kuhl (9.2) for the highest walk rate among pitchers with at least 15 innings. That ratio jumped to 8.68 walks per nine innings after McKenzie’s four walks in two frames.

“It was walks on either four or five pitches, which can’t happen,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie established the heater in the first inning, but in the second, his fastball crept higher and higher out of the zone, which he attributed to being a little bit of a mechanical issue.

“I just felt like I wasn’t finishing my pitches down through the bottom of the zone,” McKenzie said. “I felt like I will always have success on top of the zone, but I can’t live there specifically, especially if guys are gonna lay off of it when they’re not strikes. I have to command the bottom of the zone as well.”

2) First-pitch strikes
How can McKenzie cut back on the number of walks he issues? Simple: “Attack guys more,” he said. And the attack starts with the first pitch. Out of the 11 batters he faced, only two plate appearances began with a strike.

“I feel like that number has to go up, as well as my second pitches and my third pitches,” McKenzie said, “kind of being able to land those for strikes when I need them, especially out of the stretch.”

3) Dip in velocity
This wasn’t limited to just Saturday’s start. We’ve seen McKenzie’s fastball average nearly 2 mph slower (91.1 mph, entering Saturday) than last year’s heater (92.8). And while the fastball velocity bumped up just a little bit in the first inning (91.7), prompting two of his three strikeouts, the average fell slightly in his 42-pitch second frame back to 91.3 mph. But because of his tall, 6-foot-5 frame, catchers and batters often say that the pitch plays up much more than just 91 mph.

“That first inning showed how good he can be,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “He can punch out guys at will. He’s got an outstanding fastball that regardless of how fast it is, whatever the velo is, it’s playing up and it’s beating a lot of bats. … If we can start commanding the ball better, obviously, we know what he’s capable of.”