Fulmer K's 9, Abreu hits 2 HRs to beat Giants

September 10th, 2017

CHICAGO -- turned in the best performance of his Major League career on Sunday, as the White Sox No. 10 prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com, struck out nine in six innings of an 8-1 victory over the Giants at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Fulmer's second career start went far better than his first, when the right-hander allowed six runs over 1 1/3 innings against the Twins on Aug. 21. He recorded his first six outs against the Giants through strikeouts, with the only ball put in play during those two frames being a home run to lead off the second.
According to Statcast™, Fulmer threw 62 four-seam fastballs among his 98 pitches and 19 cutters. Fulmer recorded 10 of his 12 swings and misses off the heater. He set career highs in strikeouts, innings pitched and pitches.
"I was able to get ahead with a lot of guys and challenge them with the ball up in the zone," said Fulmer, who walked three and gave up three hits. "I had a little extra with my fastball today.
"Overall, it was a great day. I feel really good, and it was a good one to build off of."
The Giants collected 14 total bases and eight hits between Saturday and Sunday's games, with their lone runs coming on a pair of solo homers. , in comparison, had 18 total bases on his own during that span.

"It's the same game as yesterday," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Our pitching was off, and we're not swinging the bats at all right now. They're shutting us down. It's tough to go through two days like this, especially if our guy's out there, and not look competitive."
The White Sox knocked out Giants ace after five innings, tagging the southpaw for six runs on 10 hits. Abreu hit two home runs to give him 31 on the season, while stayed hot with three hits. The White Sox shortstop is now 13-for-25 over his last six games.
"I felt pretty good today, honestly," Bumgarner said. "That's the frustrating part about it. I felt really good from the get-go, went out to the bullpen and felt good then. For the most part, it carried into the game and the results weren't there for me."
The loss moved the Giants (56-89) to 1 1/2 games ahead of the White Sox (56-86) in the second spot for the 2018 Draft selection.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Abreu turns 30, then 31: The White Sox five-run second inning was punctuated by a two-run homer from Abreu, who hit for the sixth cycle in club history on Saturday night. Abreu's 30th homer of the season had an exit velocity of 105.7 mph and traveled a projected 411 feet, per Statcast™. The White Sox slugger has at least 30 home runs in three of his four big league seasons and sits 10 RBIs away from his fourth straight 100-RBI season after hitting his 31st homer in the seventh to give him 90 on the season. Sunday was his fourth multi-homer game of the season and 10th of his career.
"I feel just to be at peace with my life," Abreu said. "My family is OK, my kid in Cuba is OK, and the White Sox, maybe we are not in the position we wanted to be, but we are working to be in that position in the future, and I think, for us, it's going to be bright."

Parker parks one in seats: Parker returned to the Giants lineup on Sunday for the first time since Sept. 1 after missing time with a mild left oblique strain. His first at-bat was a loud one. His home run left the bat at 102.2 mph and traveled 410 feet for his third homer of the year. It was just his second RBI away from AT&T Park this season, giving the Giants a 1-0 lead in the second. More >

QUOTABLE
"Fulmer right now is going to be pitching so that we can continue to assess what we can do with him for the upcoming season. It would be fair to say, whether it's in relief or starting, think getting him the innings he can get right now at this particular time is important." -- White Sox manager Rick Renteria, on Fulmer's 2018 role

UPON FURTHER REVIEW
In the fourth inning against Bumgarner, Anderson notched his third hit of the game on a ground ball down the left-field line. With bobbling the ball, Anderson tried to take third, but he was thrown out by Hernandez. The White Sox challenged he got under 's tag, but the call stood after a 2-minute, 27-second replay review.

WHAT'S NEXT
Giants: The Giants return home to San Francisco to welcome the Dodgers at 7:15 p.m. PT on Monday. Chris Stratton will take the mound, as he looks to build on his 2.56 ERA since the All-Star break.
White Sox: makes his fifth start of the season in the series opener at Kansas City at 7:15 p.m. CT on Monday. Lopez has registered a quality start in three of his four outings this season with the White Sox.
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