Rochester Red Wings 10, Charlotte Knights 9
The Knights (42-34) came up just short in a wild one despite outhitting the Red Wings 12-10. The bats snoozed through the early frames until Nolan Jones finally got things cooking in the fourth with his 10th bomb of the year. Korey Lee chipped in an RBI double in the sixth to make it 3-2, but then came the seventh. It was a full-on meltdown, with Rochester tagging Adisyn Coffey and Chase Plymell for seven runs, and the Knights were buried under a mountain of tallies.
Charlotte refused to go away, though, answering with four runs in the bottom of the seventh. Rikuu Nishida and Dustin Harris both with RBI knocks, and Jones lacing a two-run double to keep the corpse twitching at 10-6. In the ninth inning, it was one last gasp with the Knights putting up three more runs. Jones with a sac fly for his fourth RBI, Caden Connor slapping a two-run single to bring Charlotte within a run, but that was the end of the magic. On the hill, Duncan Davitt provided a bright spot for three hitless innings, and Jared Kelly closed up the last two frames, allowing two hits, a walk, and two punchouts.
Knoxville Smokies 5, Birmingham Barons 3
Despite the loss, the Barons (26-44) did show some patience at the plate (eight walks!), but it was about the only thing worth applauding. Four hits, all night, and every run squeezed out in a single, frantic fourth inning. Anthony DePino and Samuel Zavala started things with back-to-back walks, Colby Shelton poked a single to jam the bases, and Jeral Perez broke through with a two-run double. Eddie Park walked to reload the bags, Dylan Campbell took a bases-loaded freebie, and that was it for the offense. Shelton doubled in the sixth, Alec Briley doubled in the ninth, but the Barons stranded nine, whiffed 11 times, and went a ghastly 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
On the mound, Jake Palisch took the loss, tagged for four runs on seven hits in five innings. The bullpen of Phil Fox, Nick Altermatt, and Jacob Heatherly each tossed a clean frame to keep things close, but the offense never got the clutch knock. No late heroics tonight, just a slow fade to a 5-3 defeat.
Hub City Spartanburgers 5, Winston-Salem Dash 4
The Dash (39-31) let a late lead slip away and got walked off the field in Hub City with a gut punch. There were some early fireworks from Winston-Salem. Ryan Burrowes hit a two-run bomb in the first, and George Wolkow smacked a solo shot in the third. Ely Brown laced a triple in the fourth, scored on an Alex Ungar single, and it was 4-2, Dash. For a while, it looked like cruise control. But the bats dried up just in time to leave the door wide open heading into the ninth.
Garrett Wright, wild as a rodeo, handed out five free passes and watched the Spartanburgers cash them in. Jack Young came in to try to stem the bleeding, but Boston Smith had other ideas, leaking a passed ball that plated the winning run. All of this wiped out a perfectly decent start from Riley Eikhoff (five innings, two runs, five hits) and three solid frames from Frankeli Arias and Mathias LaCombe.
Columbia Fireflies 4, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3
The Ballers (35-35) spent most of the night chasing after Jhosmmel Zue unloaded a grand slam in the second. Four runs, one swing. The Kanny bats were mostly silent, seven strikeouts and precious little traffic, but the pitching staff at least kept things from getting ugly. Gabe Tanner wore the loss, tagged for all four on that one mistake, but he hung in for five. Daniel Wright followed him with two scoreless frames while Jesus Mendez and Marco Barrios each tossed a clean inning to keep the deficit from ballooning.
Finally, Kanny mounted a rally in the ninth. Matthew Boughton and Derek Cerda poked singles, Stiven Flores cracked an RBI double, and suddenly the Ballers were back in it. Adrian Gil’s double play drove in another run, and Nathan Archer laced a triple to drag Kannapolis within one. The tying run stood a whisper from home, but Jurdrick Profar rolled over, and the rally fizzled out.
ACL Reds 8, ACL White Sox 1 (7 innings)
The ACL White Sox (11-27), unfortunately, took another one on the chin. Four hits, 0-for-6 with RISP, and one lonely run. Their tally came in the sixth when Alejandro Cruz decided to make something out of nothing with a double, a swipe of third, then a mad dash home on a wild pitch. Otherwise, the bats were pretty silent with just singles from Jefrank Silva, Marcelo Ácala, and Steven Lancia. On the mound, Fabian Ysalla got roughed up for four runs in 3 2/3 innings, and the bullpen got tagged with four more.
DSL Mariners 2, DSL White Sox 1 (7 innings)
The DSL White Sox (5-12) dropped a tough one to the Mariners in a game that was all about the pitching. Ronald Kelly was outstanding in his start, holding Seattle hitless and scoreless across four innings while punching out seven. The righthander worked around three free passes and a hit batter. Jefferson Timaure kept it close with two solid frames, allowing just one run on two hits. The decisive tally came in the bottom of the seventh against Beinel Adon, who walked the leadoff guy, gave up a single, and after a fly out, a grounder and a shortstop miscue let the winning run in. Offensively, it was the Diego Natera show with a solo homer in the third, a double in the fifth, and that was two-thirds of the team’s hits. Not much else to write home about.
ACL Mariners 14, ACL White Sox 3
The ACL White Sox got steamrolled, 14-3, surrendering a couple of touchdowns. They went up early when Jordan Rich and Marcelo Ácala worked back-to-back walks, José Mendoza doubled them in, and it was 2-0 after the first. Then the offense vanished until Eduardo Herrera smacked a solo homer in the eighth, but by then it was a lost cause. Only six hits, 1-for-13 with RISP, 11 runners left on base. The pitching was a horror show, except for Jefrank Silva, who kept his line clean. Christian Oppor, Chicago’s No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is still wrestling with his command. He tossed 1 1/3 innings, gave up a run on one hit, walked four, hit a batter, and fired off a wild pitch, which allowed the tally to score.
DSL Arizona Black 16, DSL White Sox 7 (7 innings)
This one wasn’t even remotely close early, with Arizona up 10-1 after six and the Sox bats looking like they’d rather be anywhere else. Three hits, one run, and that only thanks to Sebastian Romero, who keeps finding ways to matter. His sixth bomb came with two outs in the first, and then it was pretty much tumbleweeds until the seventh. Suddenly, six runs — yes, six! — in the seventh, with Romero and Ronald Cardozo knocking RBI singles to make the box score look a bit less embarrassing. The pitching? Forget about it. The only guy who didn’t get lit up was Yordany Marte, who tossed three innings, allowing one run on four hits, two walks, and three punchouts.
