White Sox Minor League Update: May 15, 2024
The affiliates went 3-0, and one of them won by 21
The weather in Charlotte interfered with the Knights’ ability to play baseball on Wednesday. As a result, there’s a doubleheader against the Durham Bulls on Thursday. Charlotte’s record holds at 16-23.
Wednesday’s game between Charlotte and Durham has been postponed.
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) May 15, 2024
The game will be made up in a double-header format on Thursday, May 16th with two 7-inning games beginning at 5:05 p.m.
Tickets for tonight’s game can be exchanged for any future 2024 Charlotte Knights game (not… pic.twitter.com/NBkZmMoviK
Birmingham Barons 6, Chattanooga Lookouts 5 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
The Barons were in some trouble in the latter portion of this game, but they came through in the clutch to walk it off.
In the first, Birmingham got an early start on offense. With one out, Duke Ellis started with a double. Brooks Baldwin drove in Ellis with a single, and he advanced to third on a single by Wilfred Veras. Baldwin proceeded to race home on a wild pitch to score Birmingham’s second run.
Jake Eder started on the mound, and his first two innings went smoothly, but the third frame was not so easy. José Torres led off with a double for the Lookouts, and Bubba Thompson followed with a blast to left that tied the game.
The Barons were resilient, getting those two runs back immediately, in the bottom of the third. The first Barons hitters of the inning reached base safely. Once again, Ellis got things started, this time with a single. The speedster stole second, Baldwin walked, Ellis stole third, Edgar Quero singled, and Veras singled. By the end of that stretch, the Barons had a 4-2 lead.
In the fourth, the Lookouts used a double, a stolen base, and a sacrifice fly to pull themselves within one. Eder’s fifth and final inning on the mound was not a cakewalk, either. A two-run triple by Nicholas Northcut gave the Lookouts a 5-4 lead, and the score remained that way for quite some time.
However, Tim Elko led off the eighth inning by launching a double, and Alsander Womack wasted no time driving him in with a single. Barons reliever Adisyn Coffey took care of business by pitching a scoreless top of the ninth. Then, with the game still tied, the Barons went right to work, as Baldwin singled before stealing second to put himself in scoring position. Quero drew a walk, and Veras sent the fans home happy with a walk-off double to drive in Baldwin.
Winston-Salem Dash 6, Greenville Drive 3 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
It was a good evening for the Dash, who are now within one game of .500, at 17-18.
Samuel Zavala led off the top of the third with a walk (and in fact went on to walk in all four of his plate appearances). Colby Smelley singled, and after a balk, the Dash had two in scoring position with no outs. From there, Loidel Chapelli singled, and the Dash had a 2-0 lead.
Tyler Schweitzer had a great start, only allowing one run in six innings. Impressively, Schweitzer collected five strikeouts without issuing any walks. The only run Schweitzer allowed was in the bottom of the third, when Mikey Romero tripled to start a rally with two outs and nobody on base. That extended the inning for Kristian Campbell, who singled to reduce Greenville’s deficit to one.
With one out in the top of the fifth, Eddie Park singled and advanced to second on an error. Then, red-hot Jacob Gonzalez added a single of his own to extend Winston-Salem’s lead back to two. In the seventh, Park singled again, and Shawn Goosenberg drove him in with a two-run homer to pad Winston-Salem’s lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Schweitzer finally left the game, and the Drive took advantage. The first two batters against the bullpen both homered, as Manuel Veloz was greeted rather rudely after he entered the game. However, Veloz and the remainder of the bullpen buckled down and pitched very well to wrap this game up. In the ninth, Bryce Willits hit an RBI single to add an insurance run.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 22, Fayetteville Woodpeckers 1 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Yes, that is the correct score. The Cannon Ballers really won by 21 runs.
Before we address the offense, let’s not forget to praise the pitching staff for its strong performance. Starter Jake Peppers lasted six innings, only allowed one run, and needed just 75 pitches. Relievers Connery Peters, Christian Edwards, and Luke Bell each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the game. By the time the bullpen got involved, the game was a blowout, as the offense was in control, putting up quite a few crooked numbers on the board.
The first big inning by the Cannon Ballers was the second, when they scored six despite only collecting two hits. Kannapolis hitters showed excellent plate discipline, drawing five walks during that inning. The last four of those walks occurred consecutively with two outs, and the last three of them forced in a run.
The Woodpeckers scored their only run in the top of the fourth, but the Cannon Ballers went right back to work in the bottom half. Caden Connor drove in Rikuu Nishida with a sacrifice fly, and Ryan Galanie tripled in another run.
The game turned into a massacre in the middle portion of the game. The Cannon Ballers put five in the fifth and eight in the sixth to completely break away. Incredibly, the Cannon Ballers nearly finished this game with zero homers. Galanie ensured that the Cannon Ballers got one of those, as he homered to increase the lead to 21 in the bottom of the seventh. No word on whether that made Tony La Russa angry.
In a 21-run win, nobody is worthy of the Cold Cat, so that concludes today’s coverage. See you tomorrow.