Barons' Kopech racks up 10 more strikeouts

It was not a good night to be a hitter at Regions Field.
Top White Sox pitching prospect Michael Kopech matched a season high with 10 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings and won his third straight decision as Double-A Birmingham edged Chattanooga, 2-1, on Wednesday. He yielded an unearned run on four hits and four walks to remain unbeaten since May 4.
Kopech's opponent, Twins No. 2 prospectStephen Gonsalves, fanned eight and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk over six innings.

Gameday box score
"I was fortunate enough to play with Gonsalves in the [Arizona Fall League]," Kopech told the Barons media team. "He's very talented and he just knows how to pitch. When I take the mound, especially against a guy like that, I try to eliminate errors because we don't have much room to play around."

Ranked 12th overall by MLB.com, Kopech leads all Double-A pitchers with 75 strikeouts over 53 1/3 innings. (Teammate Jordan Guerrero, scheduled to start on Thursday, is second with 74.) The 21-year-old right-hander improved to 4-2 with a 2.38 ERA and has held opponents to a .159 average.
He threw 63 of 104 pitches for strikes against the Lookouts, marking the second time he's totaled that many this year and the sixth time in 10 starts he's topped 95 pitches. 

The fireballing right-hander retired the side in order in the first and erased a second-inning single by inducing a double play, then recorded another strikeout. 
Chattanooga got to Kopech in the third, when top Twins prospect Nick Gordon delivered a one-out RBI single after Levi Michael moved to third on a passed ball by Brett Austin. Kopech limited the damage by getting a comebacker and recording his second whiff of the inning. He picked up another in the fourth, one more in the fifth and two to start the sixth.
Ryan Strausborger singled in the sixth and moved up on a wild pitch. After walking Dan Gamache on six pitches, Kopech handed the ball to Jace Fry, who struck out the next batter and fanned two in a 1-2-3 seventh. Robinson Leyer worked around a walk over two hitless innings to pick up his third save.

Gonsalves (0-2), MLB.com's No. 83 overall prospect, didn't allow a hit his first time through the Birmingham lineup. Nick Basto connected for a one-out solo homer in the fourth and Mason Robbins added an RBI single.
The 22-year-old left-hander retired seven in a row to end his night, throwing 64 of 95 pitches for strikes and lowering his ERA to 3.18.