White Sox Minor League Update: May 13-14, 2024

It’s a four-win night for the affiliates, including a walk-off in Charlotte

Charlotte Knights 12, Durham Bulls 11 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Charlotte walked it off and boosts their record to 16-23. In a back-and-forth offensive battle, the Knights came out victorious.

The Bulls got to Johan Domínguez early as he surrendered three hits in the first, giving Durham a fast 1-0 lead. The Knights answered quickly in their half of the first after Chuckie Robinson singled home Colson Montgomery, who walked to lead off the inning.

The Bulls got three more off of Domínguez before Justin Jirschele replaced him in the fourth with Cory Abbott, who promptly gave up two runs of his own. Not to be outdone, the Knights scored five in the bottom of the fifth on a big three-run double by Dominic Fletcher and a two-run dinger by Wilmer Difo, knotting it up 6-6.

But alas, there were more arm barn pitching woes for Charlotte as Chase Plymell gave up back-to-back jacks, putting Durham back up by two, 8-6. Fraser Ellard was next in the ‘Sir, may I have another’ line, handing out a tally, making it 9-6.

However, Difo continued his impressive offensive display and drove in two more with a single in the bottom of the seventh. Charlotte tied it up 9-9 on a sacrifice by Montgomery.

Nevertheless, the pen could not tie it down, and Juan Then gave up two more runs in the eighth, putting the Bulls ahead again by two. Yet, here come the Knights in their half of the inning to tie it back up on a Zach DeLoach two-run blast to right.

Neither team could get a runner across to break the tie in regulation, and it was the ghost runner rule to the rescue. Dalton Roach got the first two outs in the top of the 10th, then he intentionally walked Yu Chang and struck out René Pinto to end the frame.

In the bottom of the 10th, with Montgomery on second, Danny Mendick hit a sacrifice fly to move him to third. Hero Chuckie Robinson, who was 3-for-6 on the night, drove Monty home on a fielder’s choice. And that’s a Knights winner!

---

Chattanooga Lookouts 6, Birmingham Barons 2 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
The worst of the Southern League (Chattanooga) came into Birmingham and promptly upended the very best, stretching the Barons losing streak to six.

After a terrific April, Jairo Iriarte returned to earth a bit in May. Tonight, he earned the loss as he surrendered four runs, including a three-run bomb to Nicholas Northcut, on six hits and one walk over 6 2⁄3 innings. Incredibly, though, he struck out a season-high 11 batters, increasing his year-long total to 43.

The Barons got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a series of singles by Jacob Burke, Duke Ellis, and Cristopher De Guzmán. Unfortunately, that was it for Birmingham’s offense. Ellis, who was white-hot in April, slashing .333/.458/.410, has cooled way off in May, hitting only .115/.207/.154.

Out of the Baron’s pen, Gil Luna ruined his perfect 2024 0.00 ERA when he gave up two runs in the top of the eighth. His scoreless streak spanned an amazing 10 games and 12 1⁄3 innings.

---

Winston-Salem Dash 12, Greenville Drive 5 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
The Drive got on the board early when, with the bases loaded and one out in the first, Tanner McDougal walked Miguel Ugeuto, giving Greenville the early 1-0 lead. However, despite notching 14 hits and five total runs this evening, the Drive could not fend off the Dash scoring.

Wes Kath ignited the Dash with a three-run shot in the top of the second. And it was ALL Winston-Salem offense tonight. Every batter in the lineup had at least one hit, and Eddie Park, Shawn Goosenberg, and Bryce Willits combined to go 7-for-14 with five RBIs.

The pitching wasn’t great, but was good enough given 12 runs to back them up. Starter McDougal went four innings and gave up two runs on six hits. Max Roberts, who surrendered only two runs over eight innings and six games in April, gave up two tonight in his one inning pitched. Ernesto Jaquez earned the W for his 1-2-3 clean inning.

---

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3, Fayetteville Woodpeckers 0 (Gameday box) (Statcast box) With the win tonight, Kanny pushes back to one game better than .500 at 17-16 on the season. The Ballers offense struck first in the bottom of the second when, with the bases loaded and two outs, Rikuu Nishida grounded to second, and Chase Jaworsky booted the ball. Albertson Asigen scored on the error, giving Kannapolis an early 1-0 lead.

They added another in the bottom of the fourth when Ryan Burrowes (making his first career appearance in Low-A) singled home Mikey Kane, who doubled to lead off the inning. Finally, Asigen drove in Caden Connor — who doubled — on a single for an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh.

Drew McDaniel was fantastic, tossing seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. Going as deep as seven innings is extremely rare anywhere in the minors, especially in Low-A. He improved his overall record to 2-1 with a 2.81 ERA in 25 2⁄3 innings over five starts.

---

ACL White Sox 13, ACL Brewers 6 (Tuesday) (Gameday box)
Rehabbing pitcher Sean Burke, a year ago likely the Next Man Up from Charlotte to make a South Side start before shoulder woes sidelined him, pitched 2 2⁄3 strong innings to start the contest, giving up no runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Daniel González, who was arguably the best arm for the Complex Sox a year ago, put in a nice inning of work and has yet to give up an earnie in three innings pitched. Shane Drohan, like Burke rehabbing a shoulder on his way back to Charlotte, couldn’t buy an out, giving up a homer, a triple, and two walks. Skipper Danny González removed Drohan before he could even complete his inning. José Mendoza also had a tough time tonight, surrendering two runs in his three innings on the bump.

However, the Complex offense continued to mash, having scored a total of 22 runs over the last two games. Edrick Félix absolutely crushed a grand slam to left field in the third inning, giving the Sox an early 4-0 lead. The 22-year-old shortstop was a Round 14 choice in the 2023 MLB Draft and started the 2024 season in Kannapolis; struggling mightily, he was shipped back to the ACL in time for today’s contest.

Darío Borrero also had a good night, with two hits and two runs scored. This is the 20-year-old’s third season in the ACL, and he’s mashing like a guy desperate to move his locker out of Camelback Ranch.

---

ACL Rangers 12, ACL White Sox 9 (10 innings) (Monday) (Gameday box)
With 12 runs allowed, there wasn’t bound to be much pitching in this one for the Complex Sox. But that said, the bullpen was particularly addled, as the temperature in the desert fell cooler than 90°.

What made the sieve work by Carson Jacobs, Carlton Perkins and Luis Rodríguez particularly galling was that the bats backing the staff leaped to an early lead like a leopard out of the bush, up 5-3 after three and scoring in four of the first six frames.

Even still, while the bats were solid (11 hits), the game was sloppy all around, including awful base-stealing (2-for-5) and sloppy fielding.

Best to just turn the page, and hope against going to extras on Tuesday.

---