Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 6, Charlotte Knights 1
Though they still split the series, the Knights (19-20) once again fell one game worse than .500 as the Jumbo Shrimp (20-19) shut Charlotte down, 6-1. Lefthander Shane Murphy made his second start with the Knights since being promoted to Triple-A last week, and unfortunately gave up four runs on on a pair of two-run homers in his five frames. It’s just Murphy’s second start with Charlotte, so no need to panic quite yet, though he has some interesting ERA splits by inning: The second seems to be the thorn in Shane’s side. Naturally, he allowed his first two runs today in the second, which seems to be the cursed inning (10.29 ERA and 2.57 WHIP).
On the other end, Charlotte’s bats were snoozing for most of the game, only scraping together four hits and one measly run. The lone run in the sixth wasn’t anything exciting either: No homers, no RBIs, just Korey Lee grounding into a double play with the bases loaded and nobody out. Rikuu Nishida and Mario Camilletti led the offense, with Camilletti getting on base every time up, going 2-for-2 while walking his other two at-bats.
Riley Gowens took over for Murphy in the sixth, and put together a clean 1-2-3 inning. Righthander Jackson Kelley wasn’t able to follow suit, however, as he allowed the Jumbo Shrimp to extend the lead, 6-1, after a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh. Tyler Gilbert struck out two in the eighth, but the offense couldn’t ignite to start a comeback, so it is heading home with an L.
Knoxville Smokies 7, Birmingham Barons 2
The Barons (14-19) had actually outhit the Smokies (18-15), putting up eight safeties to Knoxville’s seven, but they couldn’t get the job done and lost their fourth in a row, 7-2. The differences were that Birmingham went just 2-for-9 (.222) with runners in scoring position while leaving left five on base, and the Smokies pitchers racked up 12 strikeouts while not walking a single Barons batter. Birmingham’s bullpen also certainly owns a share of the blame, as Jarold Rosado and Luke Bell let up all seven runs in the bottom of the seventh, just after righthander Dylan Cumming had tossed six excellent innings. The worst part was that Cumming was also on the books for a win because the Barons had taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the sixth.
The sixth inning contained majority of the offensive action for the Good Guys, which also included Barons manager Pat Leyland getting thrown out before the two runs even scored. Jordan Sprinkle had singled then was thrown out attempting to steal second, which would have been his second stolen base of the day. Leyland was thrown out right after that, so it’s possible he was likely arguing about the caught-stealing call. Re-starting a rally with two out, Samuel Zavala bunted to get on base, stole second, and was immediately driven in on an RBI double from Alec Makarewicz.
A wild pitch moved Makarewicz over to third, and he scored the second run when the Smokies third baseman botched a ground ball from Jacob Burke. We’ll always take a free run. Outside of Makarewicz and Sprinkle’s 3-for-4 day (including a double), the Barons were flat at the plate, and it was clear that a comeback was not in the stars this time.
Hudson Valley Renegades 5, Winston-Salem Dash 2
The Dash (18-15) have dropped back-to-back series, and are now riding a three-game skid after losing to the Renegades (18-14), 5-2. Winston-Salem’s pitching didn’t get it together until the seventh inning, and their bats didn’t wake up until the eighth; that’s a bad combination.
Drew McDaniel made his seventh start of the season, but ended up with his third loss due to the solo homer in the bottom of the fourth that initially gave Hudson Valley the lead. The homer was one of two hits McDaniel allowed, and he both struck out and walked two batters.
Just one inning later, the same guy who’d hit the solo shot, Kyle West, mashed a grand slam off of lefthander Liam Paddack, breaking the game open for the Renegades, 5-0. The Dash offense was unable to convert with runners in scoring position (0-for-6), and the Good Guys left six on base, struck out 14 times, and put up just four hits as a team. Colby Shelton was the offensive standout for Winston-Salem, and his two-run homer were the lone RBIs and one extra-base hit for the Barons.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3, Columbia Fireflies 2
Despite only accumulating four hits, the Cannon Ballers (14-19) outlasted the Fireflies (15-18) to take the series, 3-2. Kannapolis went with a bullpen day with the pitching staff, and as a whole they only allowed the two runs on six hits, while also striking out 10 and walking just one. Righthander Landen Payne gave up one single in his opening inning, and Blaine Wynk acted as the long reliever, taking over for three scoreless frames. Nick Weyrich rang up the most batters Sunday (four), and allowed one of Columbia’s two runs, with the other charged to Jordan Morales.
As the Ballers took the lead in the seventh, Morales would would end up with the win, and Marco Barrios earned his first save of the season in his 12th appearance by striking out the side. In 14 1/3 innings in 2026, Barrios holds a 1.26 ERA and WHIP, and if he keeps it up, it’s likely he’ll make the jump to the Dash soon.
Two of the four hits for the Ballers were for extra bases: a two-bagger from D’Angelo Tejada, and a three-run bomb from Javier Mogollón that drove Kanny to the win. Thankfully the homer happened, because the Ballers were otherwise floundering at the plate. They didn’t walk once, and struck out a whopping 18 times (everyone K’ed at least once), but at least they came out with a win. In a familiar refrain, it was the only South Side minors team in the organization to do earn a victory today.