Barons' Fulmer posts seven more zeros

Carson Fulmer established a career high by going seven innings in his last start. He enjoyed it so much that he duplicated the feat Friday night.

The top White Sox prospect gave up three hits and four walks while striking out five to extend his scoreless streak to 14 before Double-A Birmingham dropped a 3-1, 13-inning decision to visiting Biloxi.

"The last two starts, I've been able to command all my pitches," Fulmer said. "I'm not really relying on just one pitch, I'm able to throw all my pitches for strikes and stay ahead of hitters. When you throw in the strike zone, it's usually in your favor."

Fulmer allowed a leadoff single to Johnny Davis in the first and walked Brewers No. 2 prospect Brett Phillips two batters later but got out of trouble by picking Davis off first and getting Garrett Cooper to fly to right. After walking two of the first four batters he faced in the second, the 22-year-old right-hander settled in and retired the next 10 hitters.

"When guys would get on early in the year, I'd get into trouble," Fulmer said. "What I've been trying to do recently -- I've been just pounding the strike zone, letting them put it into play and not thinking too much of it. Now I'm able to get out of that, and I'm seeing a bunch of improvement there."

The 2015 first-round pick struck out Davis to start the sixth, but catcher Jeremy Dowdy's throwing error allowed him to reach first. Two batters later, Fulmer walked Phillips for the second time. Out of the 10 pitches he threw, eight were out of the strike zone, but he wasn't trying to pitch around him.

"I grew up with Brett, so the competition between me and him is kind of high," Fulmer said. "I tried to challenge him with everything I had, and a couple pitches got away from me. He's a great hitter -- I have a ton of respect for him -- and he did a great job of working the count."

After Cooper singled to load the bases with one out, pitching coach J.R. Perdew visited the mound to settle down MLB.com's No. 33 overall prospect. The trip worked as Fulmer struck out Brewers No. 10 prospect Jacob Nottingham and retired Nick Ramirez on a fly ball to center.

"[Perdew told me] not to do too much," the Vanderbilt product said. "Most guys want to do more. Not doing too much there, just continuing to keep the ball in the zone and, luckily, the outcome for me was in my favor. That was the turning point of the game -- it could have been really bad, and my teammates definitely picked me up."

The Barons took a 1-0 lead into the ninth on the back of Fulmer's second straight stellar start, but Nolan Sanburn gave up a sacrifice fly to Christopher McFarland. In the 13th, Nottingham broke the deadlock with a two-run single off Kyle Hansen.

Despite the eventual loss, Fulmer said he's excited to build on his last two starts.

"Just take this game, get rid of it quick and prepare myself for the next start," he said. "Just keeping things simple, attacking the strike zone. The more you think about it, the more you get caught up in it. You have to get rid of [results] quick because in five days, you take the mound again. And that's where my head is right now."

White Sox No. 4 prospect Adam Engel had two of Birmingham's three hits, including his sixth triple.

Shuckers starter Wei-Chung Wang (3-3) was nearly as good as Fulmer, allowing one run on three hits over eight innings. He struck out six without issuing a walk.