Drillers' Barlow strikes out career-best nine

Recent bullpen sessions instilled some extra confidence in Scott Barlow, and now the Dodgers prospect is beginning to find some success on the hill.
"I'm just using my stuff a little better," Barlow said. "[Pitching coach Bill Simas] and I have been working on it a lot and he's just been saying, 'Trust your stuff. You don't need to be the nastiest guy in the world. You just have to put it over the plate and things usually work out.' So, I give a lot of credit to Bill for what I've been able to do."
The 24-year-old right-hander struck out a career-best nine while allowing just one hit and three walks over six innings in Double-A Tulsa's 6-0 win over Springfield on Saturday at ONEOK Field.

Box score
"I was just staying aggressive and attacking hitters," Barlow said. "I know I walked three, but I just tried to stay ahead as much as I could and then was able to put away guys with the off-speed pitches."
By punching out the first two batters he faced, Barlow gave an early indication of what Springfield's hitters could expect. 
"It definitely boosted my confidence," the Connecticut native said. "I like working quickly and getting my hitters into the dugout as quickly as possible so they can do their thing. It also keeps our infielders on their feet and gets the game moving along."

Barlow issued walks to lead off the second and fourth before surrendering one to Casey Grayson and a single to Cardinals No. 6 prospectSandy Alcantara with two outs in the fifth, but his slider helped get him out of those jams.
"The slider really helped me out a lot tonight," Barlow said. "That was always there. No matter what the count is, I could just flip it in for a strike or just put it down in the dirt trying to get some swings. The curveball was also working and I could get that over at any time tonight."
With 83 Minor League starts since being drafted in the sixth round by the Dodgers in 2011, Barlow put Saturday's outing into some personal context.

"I felt like that was definitely one of my best starts, for sure," he said.
After going 4-7 with a 3.98 ERA over 23 starts last year with Tulsa, Barlow is back in the Texas League and understands the next steps he must take in his development. 
"Limiting walks, I think, is the biggest thing for me," he said. "I've been having a little trouble with that in the past couple of years. I'm just taking it one day at a time and not looking too far ahead. And when it's my day to pitch, just be aggressive and attack the hitters."
Karch Kowalczyk walked one and struck out two in the seventh before Chris Powell worked the final two frames by allowing a hit and two walks.
Kyle Garlick homered in his second straight game to pace the Drillers, while Michael Ahmed added three hits.