Barons' Dunning all about the zeros

Dane Dunning is already taking a liking to the Southern League. The opposition? Not so much.
The White Sox No. 6 prospect allowed four hits and a walk over six scoreless innings as Double-A Birmingham defeated Tennessee, 8-3, on Wednesday night at Smokies Stadium. It marked the second win in as many starts for Dunning (2-0), who was promoted to Double-A last Thursday after posting a 1-1 record and a 2.59 ERA in four starts with Class A Advanced Winston-Salem.

"Tonight was all about keeping them off balance and missing barrels," Dunning said. "My goal, as it has always been, is to just keep command of the zone. It really wasn't too much more than that."  
Gameday box score
The 23-year-old issued a walk to Cubs No. 22 prospect Zack Short in the first inning and allowed a single to Eddy Martinez in the fourth. But Tennessee did not get a runner into scoring position until Trent Giambrone and Charcer Burks singled to start the fifth. Dunning rebounded to strike out Trey Martin and Jeffrey Baez before getting Short to ground into a fielder's choice. He retired the side in order in the sixth and departed having thrown 58 of his 93 pitches for strikes to complete his second scoreless effort of the year.
"Baseball is baseball," the Florida native said. "It's really not too big of a deal [pitching in Double-A]. It's the same game that I've been playing since I was a kid and that's how I choose to look at it.
"Of course, there are differences. One of the things I've noticed so far is that the hitters stay on the ball a lot longer and see the pitches better. Today, for example, I was throwing a lot of sliders when I was ahead in the count. I was able to keep them knee high and just off the plate, but they were making contact. Down in the Carolina League, those pitches are not getting touched."

Dunning fanned 31 batters in 24 1/3 innings while holding Carolina League opponents to a .215 average in four starts before his promotion. The University of Florida product surrendered three runs and struck out four over six frames to defeat Biloxi in his Double-A debut on April 26. Overall, Dunning sports a 2.48 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings this season.
"It's been a lot of fun here so far," he said. "I've played with about half of these guys and meeting and getting to know the ones I don't know has been a blast. It's a much different scene here. I think it's been a great ride so far, a really enjoyable place to be."

Trey Michalczewski, Matt Rose, Danny Mendick and ninth-ranked White Sox prospect Zack Collins went deep for Birmingham, which collected 14 hits en route to an 8-0 lead. Top White Sox prospect Eloy Jiménez singled twice and scored once to extend his hitting streak to six games. Since beginning his season 0-for-10, MLB.com's No. 4 overall prospect has batted .310 with four homers and 14 RBIs in his last 10 games.
The Cubs' 27th-ranked prospect Trevor Clifton (2-3) retired only two batters and was charged with two runs on two hits and three walks with one strikeout before exiting the game.