Charlotte Knights 4, Norfolk Tides 1
Charlotte’s four-spot in the third carried the team to another modest win. Michael Turner and LaMonte Wade Jr. hit back-to-back bombs, and Korey Lee followed up with a single that plated the remaining two runs.
The Knights needed six arms to get the job done. Hagen Smith is still settling into Triple-A, but his six strikeouts somewhat made up for his earned run and five walks in just under four innings. Fortunately, the bullpen picked up the slack and helped elicit 15 strikeouts from a Norfolk lineup that seemed completely lost the entire night.
Birmingham Barons 9, Rocket City Trash Pandas 4
Bham claimed an easy win, albeit one that should’ve ended 9-2. The Barons pulled out all the stops despite giving up two easy runs from an Alec Mackarewicz fielding error, as Calvin Harris’ grand slam and Anthony DePino’s out-of-the-park slugs powered half the runs.
The rest of the runs were made up of small-ball singles from Jacob Burke, who continues to be a go-to guy at the plate and on the bases with a .303 batting average and eight stolen sacks. Plus, Andy Weber provided an insurance run while the rest of the lineup’s bats fell silent. Even if the runs fell on just a few guys, the pitching took care of the rest, particularly the arm barn. Luke Bell and Jacob Heatherly closed out the game with four scoreless innings, permitting just two hits while striking out four. In a game where Rocket City was scrounging for runs to keep up, Bell and Heatherly locked the Trash Pandas down and kept the game at a distance.
Winston-Salem Dash 9, Wilmington Blue Rocks 5
Persistence kept the Dash ahead of a Blue Rocks team that was hot on their heels. Winston-Salem and Wilmington traded runs throughout the first half of the contest. Drew McDaniel’s efficient but relatively short one-run, four-inning outing was quickly erased by Jake Peppers, who gave up a three-spot in the fifth frame. Peppers managed to escape the inning, but it cost the Dash the lead.
After seeing the Blue Rocks pummel a couple balls out of the park, Boston Smith turned the tables in the next half-inning, rocketing a ball to left center to regain a 6-4 lead.
The Dash and Blue Rocks proceeded to swap runs once more, but Morris Austin’s handy relief work stopped the silliness. His two scoreless innings perfectly summarize his 1.56 ERA and 1.38 WHIP with 25 strikeouts in just over 17 innings this year. Recently-promoted Arxy Hernandez and Smith, whose 319/.419/.625 slash line, 14 RBIs, and 13 walks stand out in his first month in High-A, helped the Dash prove once again that taking the game inning by inning is sometimes the way to go.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3, Charleston RiverDogs 1
Kanny’s continued trend of quiet productivity remained. Yep those three winning runs came via bases-juiced walk, ground out and sac fly. It was really the pitching that earned a round of applause.
Truman Pauley hurled 10 strikeouts in 4 ⅓ innings to shut the RiverDogs down early. Although he still hasn’t managed to push his average outing beyond four innings, Pauley gave the bullpen a sprinting head start in the morale department. Jackson Nove stole the win from him, however, after working 3 ⅓ scoreless innings and achieving five more strikeouts to prevent Charleston from rallying. Nove’s lights-out 23 innings this season include 41 strikeouts and only five earned runs thus far. For a young reliever coming from the ACL, that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
ACL Royals 6, ACL White Sox 2
The Sox Complex pitchers collapsed in a game of who can do the most with the least. In a low-hitting game (10 combined hits), starter Fidel Montero blew a two-run lead provided by Derek Cerada by allowing a two-run bomb in the third. He exited in the next inning after giving up the lead. Carlton Perkins started digging the Sox’s grave with another run given up in the fifth, and Blake Shepardson nailed the lid on the coffin with two more earned runs.
When no pitcher enters and exits the game without allowing a run, that usually spells trouble, and for a young group of guys that have plenty to learn, there’s not a lot of confidence to be gained by nightly late-game rallies.
