Kickham mows 'em down for Jumbo Shrimp

The rumor goes that the hitters were swinging actual baseball bats during Double-A Jackson's game against Jacksonville on Saturday night. In actuality, it might not have made much of a difference what they carried to the plate 
Jackson's Mike Kickham and Jacksonville's Taylor Clarke each fanned 12, but the Generals found enough offense to defeat the Jumbo Shrimp, 4-2, at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. 
The 24 combined strikeouts were two shy of the Southern League record by starting pitchers in the same game, set by Knoxville's Don Secrist and Macon's Larry Loughlin on June 28, 1966.

Gameday box score
The elder statesman of the two hurlers at 28 years old, Kickham worked around leadoff singles by Colin Walsh, Rudy Flores and Jamie Westbrook in the first three innings. Kickham struck out the final two batters of the third and retired the side in order in each of the next three frames.
He punched out the side in the fourth and fifth and the first batter in the sixth. The seven consecutive strikeouts were one shy of the Southern League record. 

"Yeah, I had it going there in the fourth and kept it rolling in the fifth," the Missouri State product said. "I hit a groove there and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't aware and trying for the strikeouts. But it comes down to execution and that was the key tonight.
"My catcher [Austin Nola] called a great game tonight. We really executed well with the cutter. A couple of our hitters told me how tough it was to see at the plate early on. I noticed that myself when I got up there, so I definitely exploited that on the mound. But you've got to tip your cap to [Clarke]. He kept them in the ballgame with a great effort."
Kickham set down the last 13 batters he faced. He was lifted with two outs and nobody on in the seventh having surrendered no runs on three hits with a walk. His 12 strikeouts equaled a career high set with Double-A Richmond on Aug. 12, 2012.
The start continued a strong run for the St. Louis native, who has surrendered two runs or less in eight of his nine starts and has a 1.43 ERA in seven appearances, including six starts, since April 25.
Clarke exceeded his counterpart early on, holding Jacksonville hitless until Nola singled leading off the fifth. The D-backs' No. 5 prospect topped his previous career high of 10 whiffs set last July 7 with Double-A Mobile. His 12 strikeouts were one fewer than he had in his previous three starts combined.

"They were pretty aggressive and because I was able to get ahead, I was able to use my slider a lot to get the strikeouts," Clarke said. "They were definitely up there hacking, so I changed things a little bit. Knowing they were going after things with two strikes, I didn't have to worry about being in the strike zone as much late in the count, so I was burying sliders and they were chasing them."
The 24-year-old walked KC Serna to start the sixth but quickly picked him off. However, Marlins No. 3 prospectBrian Anderson doubled to left, putting an end to Clarke's night. Miami's No. 26 prospect, John Norwood, belted a two-run homer off Joey Krehbiel to give the Jumbo Shrimp a 2-0 lead and close the book on Clarke, who was charged with one run on two hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings.
"When the other starter is rolling, it puts added focus on myself to keep pace," Kickham said of his duel with Clarke. "I knew our guys were having a tough time, so it's my job to make it tough on their guys. You feed off that and if he keeps pace with me, I need to keep pace with them."
Jackson rallied for two runs in the eighth to tie the game, and Oscar Hernández stroked an RBI double in the ninth to give the Generals a 3-2 lead.
Krehbiel and Gabriel Moya (2-1) combined for eight strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings of relief for Jackson.
The 20 strikeouts by the Generals' staff were two shy of the league record, done most recently by West Tenn during an 18-inning game on April 21, 2014.