Oklahoma City Comets 10, Charlotte Knights 1
The Knights (35-30) are off to a rough start this week, dropping the first two games in their series against the Comets (37-27). The Comets are proving that they still have plenty of weapons despite releasing White Sox legend Seby Zavala on June 5.
Knights starter Jonathan Cannon, 25, was in control early on, delivering four shutout innings to begin his outing. However, the Knights also failed to score during those innings, and the fifth frame was a struggle. During the fifth, Cannon allowed two singles, the second of which put runners on first and second with two outs. From there, the Comets pulled off a double-steal, and surprisingly, a throwing error by catcher Michael Turner allowed both runners to score.
In the bottom half, Turner partially made up for the error by hitting an RBI single to drive in Jason Matthews, who had led off the inning with a single. However, the Knights failed to score any other runs in this game. Meanwhile, the Comets pulled away with four more runs in the sixth. All of those runs were charged to Cannon, although only two of them were earned. Overall, Cannon allowed six runs, but due to the errors, four of those were unearned.
The Knights bullpen was not very effective, combining to allow four earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, but at that point, the game was out of reach anyway. The Knights finished with 10 hits, but all of those were singles, and they went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Incredibly, they left 16 runners on base.
Biloxi Shuckers 14, Birmingham Barons 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)
The Barons (21-37) got blown out from start to finish during the first game against Biloxi (30-26).
Biloxi scored two in the first, three in the second, and three in the third to run away with this game. As you would expect, it was a rough day for Barons starter Jake Palisch, who was charged with all nine of those runs. However, once again, many of those runs were unearned, as the defense did not do Palisch any favors.
The lone Barons run came in the first, when outfielder Samuel Zavala drove in Alec Makarewicz, who walked and stole second. At the time, Zavala’s single cut the deficit to one, but after that point, Biloxi scored 12 unanswered runs.
The Barons (22-37) performed much better in the nightcap, pitching well enough to win a tight game that required one extra inning against the Shuckers (30-27).
Birmingham did not waste time, as Makarewicz gave the Barons an early spark with a one-out double in the top of the first. Makarewicz advanced to third on a wild pitch, and he scored on a productive ground out by Anthony DePino.
Reliever Luke Bell had a decent performance, pitching two innings and allowing one run. However, the run he allowed was a solo homer by Mark Coley II that tied the game. In such a low-scoring game, it appeared that Coley’s homer could be a major turning point.
The teams remained tied at one after seven innings, so extra baseball was required. Grant Magill led off the eighth for the Barons, and he singled to put the free runner at third. With runners on the corners and no outs, Jacob Burke hit a sacrifice fly to put the Barons ahead, 2-1.
Barons reliever Jonathan Clark was terrific. In addition to pitching a scoreless seventh, he came through in a high-leverage situation in the eighth by stranding the free runner. With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, Clark picked up an extremely clutch strikeout before a fly out ended the game.
Greenville Drive 7, Winston-Salem Dash 4
The Dash (33-26) could not keep the Drive (24-32) off the board in the early going, and ultimately, the offense could not make up for the early deficit.
Dash starter Liam Paddack, 22, had been in a groove, allowing zero runs in eight innings across his prior two starts. However, the Drive did not make his job easy on Wednesday. In the first, a walk, a stolen base, and a single helped Greenville score the game’s first run.
The Dash got that run back in the top of the second, which started with Boston Smith getting hit by a pitch. After a productive ground out by Kyle Lodise, Smith swiped his seventh base of the season. James Taussig drew a walk to put runners on the corners, and Arxy Hernández drove in the tying run with a single.
The good times did not keep rolling long, as the Drive put a crooked number on the board in the bottom of the second. Paddack issued a leadoff walk, which was followed by a hit by pitch. That set the stage for Jack Winnay, who launched a three-run homer that put the Drive ahead for good. The Dash finished with 10 hits, but eight were singles, and the other two were doubles. They finished 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and star prospect Caleb Bonemer had a night that he would like to put behind him.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 15, Fredericksburg Nationals 2
After failing to score any runs on Tuesday, Kannapolis (30-29) crushed the ball early and often against Fredericksburg (42-17), the leader of the Carolina League.
Kannapolis scored two in the first and seven in the second to put the game out of reach early on. With the game tied at two in the bottom of the second, the Cannon Ballers took complete control. Abraham Núñez drove in the first run of the inning with a single to put Kannapolis in front. From there, Javier Mogollón cleared the bases with a three-run double, and the Cannon Ballers were not even close to done scoring. Jaden Fauske drove in Mogollón with a double, Ryan Galvan picked up an RBI single, and Efren Teran drew a walk with the bases loaded.
For good measure, the Cannon Ballers added four in the fourth, one in the sixth, and one in the eighth. Derek Cerda launched a pair of home runs to add insurance. This was only Cerda’s 15th game of the season, but those were his first two blasts.
Other than running into some trouble in the second, Caedmon Parker’s start on the mound went well. Parker went five innings and only allowed two runs. Contact was difficult for the Nationals to make, as Parker picked up 10 strikeouts. On top of that, the bullpen combined to pitch four shutout innings.
ACL Padres 11, ACL White Sox 6 (7 innings)
Walks were an enormous problem for the ACL White Sox (10-19), who simply could not stop issuing free passes against the ACL Padres (15-13). The ACL White Sox allowed zero hits in the bottom of the first, but they issued six walks, they hit two batters, and they had two wild pitches. By the end of that nightmarish frame, the ACL Padres had a 5-2 lead. The ACL White Sox jumped out to a brief lead in the top of the first, when they scored a pair. Their biggest hit that inning was an RBI double by Eddie Park to drive in the game’s first run. However, after that point, the ACL Padres dominated. The ACL White Sox briefly stuck their noses back into the game, when Jefrank Silva drove in a pair with a single in the third, and Landon Hodge added an RBI single in the fourth. Hodge’s single reduced the deficit to two, but they did not get any closer.