Clarke puts on 'K' clinic for BayBears

On a night in which Taylor Clarke struck out half of the batters he faced, he was prouder of something he didn't do -- issue a walk for the fifth straight outing.

"Knowing I'm not beating myself and giving myself and my defense a chance to make plays. Giving guys a free pass is kind of something that irks me, a lot," the D-backs' No. 6 prospect said. "I'm trying to limit my mistakes as much as possible, whether it be leaving a pitch over the middle or getting myself into trouble with walks."

Clarke (5-5) scattered four hits and struck out nine over five innings as Double-A Mobile blanked visiting Chattanooga, 2-0, to earn a split of Monday's doubleheader. 

The 23-year-old right-hander struck out Zach Granite to lead off the game before yielding a single to Ryan Walker. After striking out Mitch Garver, Clarke got an assist from his batterymate, Ronnie Freeman, who caught Walker trying to steal second to end the frame. 

"I felt pretty good coming out of the bullpen, and then right from the get-go, I felt good. I was locating my fastball well and everything else just played off of that," he said. "Ronnie throwing that guy out was huge. Having him back there has been great, and it's always nice giving him a chance to throw out a runner."

If Clarke's first inning was good, his second was downright dominant. The College of Charleston product struck out the side, including an 11-pitch battle against Leonardo Reginatto. 

"Going out in the second, I just tried to do the same thing I did in the first," Clarke said. "I was able to put them away when I needed to."

In the third, the 2015 third-round pick gave up a pair of two-out singles to Jairo Rodriguez and Granite, but struck out Walker swinging. 

"Getting those first two outs was nice," Clarke said. "I made a good pitch and [Rodriguez] lunged, threw the bat out there and poked it over [first baseman Kevin Cron's] head. Then [Granite] hit a first-pitch fastball up the middle for a single. There's not much you can do about those two things.

"I just kept attacking and went right at Walker, got those two strikes and got him to swing over the top of a back-foot slider. I didn't try to change anything or be more perfect with the runners on, I just tried to make quality pitches."

After working around a single in the fourth, Clarke capped his outing with a 1-2-3 fifth. 

He began the season with Class A Kane County, where he posted a 2.83 ERA in six starts. On May 9, Clarke was promoted to Class A Advanced Visalia and delivered a 1-1 record with a 2.74 ERA in four starts, earning himself a debut with Mobile on May 31. 

"I've been working in on hitters. We've done that a lot since I've come up to Mobile," he said. "I've been able to pound guys inside with the fastball and it opens up the outer part of the plate."

Minnesota's No. 6 prospect Kohl Stewart (5-5) went the distance, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on four hits and two hits while striking out over six innings for Chattanooga.

Chuck Taylor factored into both of Mobile's runs, scoring on second baseman Ryan Walker's throwing error in the first before Stewart hit him with a pitch with the bases loaded in the second. 

Garver homered and drove in three runs as Chattanooga took the opener of the twinbill, 8-3.