Charlotte Knights 4, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 0
The Knights (27-25) leaned on a stellar night from the pitching staff and just enough timely offense to blank Jacksonville. Charlotte struck first in the second inning when Dru Baker showed off some thump, yanking his sixth homer of the season to bring home two runs and give the Knights an early lead. From there, the arms took over. Joe Rock — acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in the Oliver Dunn deal — fired three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three. Chase Plymell, Adisyn Coffey, and Ben Peoples followed in lockstep, each tossing two scoreless frames to finish off the shutout.
Charlotte tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth to put things away. Mario Camilletti got things started with a leadoff single before promptly swiping second, and Jason Matthews cashed him in with an RBI single to center. A fielding error and a walk to Braden Montgomery later loaded the bases, and Jacob Gonzalez drew a bases-loaded walk to force home another tally to stretch the lead and secure the 4-0 victory.
Birmingham Barons 8, Pensacola Blue Wahoos 4
The Barons (17-28) plated a pair early with some two-out opportunism. Jacob Burke got things started in the second with a two-out single and a stolen base before Jeral Perez knocked him in with an RBI base hit. Next inning, Wilfred Veras singles, Colby Shelton reaches via error, and Alec Makarewicz lofts a sacrifice fly. Not exactly a fireworks show (we’ll get to those soon), but it was enough to get the scoreboard flickering, giving them a 2-0 lead.
Pensacola made things interesting in the fourth, taking Lucas Gordon deep for a two-run shot, but the Barons responded in emphatic fashion. Perez walked, Veras and Jordan Sprinkle stacked the bases with back-to-back singles, and then Colby Shelton uncorked a grand slam. Suddenly, it’s 6-2, and the Barons are cruising. Makarewicz tacked on a two-run double for fun in the sixth. The pitching staff bent but held on from there, with Jackson Kelley and Luke Bell combining to absorb the damage and keep Birmingham comfortably ahead the rest of the way.
Winston-Salem Dash 5, Rome Emperors 1
For a while, this one looked like it might end in a race to see which offense could accidentally stumble into a run first. Instead, the Dash (27-19) finally broke the stalemate in the bottom of the fifth behind a welcome sight: power. After George Wolkow and Grant Magill worked back-to-back one-out walks, Ely Brown unloaded on his first homer of the season to suddenly turn a deadlocked pitchers’ duel into a 3-0 Winston-Salem lead. That was more than enough support for Grant Umberger, who carved through Rome for five scoreless innings while allowing four hits, walking one, and striking out five.
The Emperors scored their lone run in the sixth against Garrett Wright, piecing together a walk, a wild pitch, and a single to trim the lead to 3-1. Winston-Salem answered late when Boston Smith drew a one-out walk in the eighth before Ryan Burrowes launched a two-run shot to right-center to provide some breathing room at 5-1.
Morris Austin and Pierce George handled the rest, combining for three scoreless innings to close out a strong all-around night for the Dash hurlers.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3, Augusta GreenJackets 1
Kannapolis (25-21) stitched together just enough hits and a dose of mound dominance to slip past Augusta, 3-1, in a game that was all grit. The Ballers got the party started in the second when Stiven Flores poked his way on with a base hit, Jaden Fauske legged out an infield hit (then got greedy and was cut down at second), and Rylan Galvan worked a free pass. Then, with runners on first and third and one out, Alexander Albertus plated Flores on a fielder’s choice.
After the GreenJackets briefly tied things up in the fourth against Max Banks, Kannapolis answered right back with another small-ball push. Back-to-back singles from Abraham Núñez and Matthew Boughton set the table, Javier Mogollón advanced the pair on a grounder, and Flores again came through with an RBI ground out to restore the lead. Then, James Taussig launched a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth to make it 3-1.
From there, the pitching did the rest. Banks was once again outstanding, improving to 4-0 in May with a 0.62 ERA and 0.83 WHIP, while Alexander Martinez tossed three scoreless out of the bullpen and Landen Payne shut the door in the ninth to secure the 3-1 win.
ACL Padres 10, ACL White Sox 1 (7 innings)
This one was even uglier than the score suggests. Eight hits scattered, ten runners left to rot, and a ghastly 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Eleven strikeouts, too, just to really drive the point home. The only flicker of life was back-to-back doubles from Christian Gonzalez and Yordani Soto in the second, and that was it for the scoring. The rest? A parade of empty at-bats.
On the hill, the Sox’s arms were a mess. They gave up nine hits, a buffet of free passes (10), and the Padres just kept piling on. Only Leandro Alsinois escaped the last frame unscathed, somehow wriggling through a scoreless inning despite letting two guys on.
ACL Mariners 12, ACL White Sox 3 (Monday, May 25)
The ACL White Sox got steamrolled by the ACL Mariners in a game that quickly spiraled out of control. Orlando Suarez was tagged for four runs in 2 2/3 innings, while the pitching staff combined for 10 walks, three wild pitches, a balk, and a parade of self-inflicted chaos that made the Mariners’ job far too easy. The Sox offense did manage six hits, with Alejandro Cruz supplying the biggest punch via a two-run double in the bottom of the third and Jordan Rich knocking in the lone other run in the bottom of the sixth. Meanwhile, the lineup struck out 13 times, because apparently making contact was deemed optional under the Arizona sun.