Oklahoma City Comets 11, Charlotte Knights 7
It was a tough start for lefthander Hagen Smith, who gave up eight runs (seven earned) in Saturday’s start against the Comets (38-29), leading to his fifth loss of the season for the Knights (37-31). Charlotte posted five runs in the first inning to give Smith a huge cushion, but Oklahoma City got them right back and tagged on four in the top of the fifth. Smith was rumored to potentially be called up to the big-league squad this weekend, but perhaps a bit more time in the minors wouldn’t be the worst thing to allow him to work out some of the kinks, considering he walked three compared to five strikeouts, and the Comets smoked four homers off of him.
Both Rikuu Nishida and Andy Weber posted two hits apiece and an RBI, while Junior Perez and Michael Turner also scored twice, including a homer from Perez in the sixth inning in an effort to get a rally going for the Good Guys. The Knights posted 10 hits as a team and went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position, but they also left 10 on base, falling short in their comeback. Charlotte will look to tie the series at three tomorrow, in front of some angelic fans for Bark in the Park day!
Biloxi Shuckers 9, Birmingham Barons 3
Snapping a three-game win streak, the Barons (24-38) fell to the Shuckers (31-29), 9-3. Birmingham was outhit, 15-6, and couldn’t convert with runners in scoring position, going just 1-for-9 while leaving six on base; converting ALL of those would barely have been enough. It didn’t really matter, however, as the pitching staff struggled to prevent runs, as all but one hurler (Aric McAtee) surrendered at least one run. Though he essentially threw the best out of all of the Birmingham arms today, Connor McCullough walked way with the L, allowing one unearned run on three hits, one walk, and striking out seven in his four frames.
Half of the Barons hits were for extra bases — three doubles — and all three runs scored in the bottom of the sixth: two on a two-bagger from Dylan Campbell, and another on an RBI ground out from Colby Shelton. The bats were otherwise fairly quiet, and Birmingham will hope for a better performance all around tomorrow for the series finale.
Winston-Salem Dash 7, Greenville Drive 5 (11 innings)
Even though they blew the lead in the bottom of the ninth, the Dash (35-27) persevered by driving two in the 11th and shutting the Drive (25-34) down, 7-5. And it’s a good thing they did, because it was they only win across the organization on Saturday. The Winston-Salem pitching staff struggled for the most part, outside of three solid innings of relief from righthander Garrett Wright (earning a hold while giving up no hits, walking two, and striking out five). The first five frames belonged to Grant Umberger, who stumbled through his 11th start of the season. Umberger cruised through the first four, but a four-spot in the fourth soured his outing as five of his eight hits surrendered came in that inning.
Winston-Salem had already scored two: Greenville walked a run in for the Good Guys in the top of the first, and James Taussig mashed one of his two homers on the day in the fourth. After the rough inning from Umberger, Taussig struck again with his second bomb, a three-run shot to take a one-run lead in the fifth, 5-4. Taussig was only just promoted to the Dash a couple of days ago, and he was on fire Saturday, finishing 3-for-5 with a double to cap off his two long balls, two runs, and four runs driven in. Have a day, James!
The offense produced 11 hits, but had a difficult time with runners in scoring position, going 2-for-16 and leaving a whopping 12 runners on base. On top of Taussig’s monstrous night, Kyle Lodise also had three knocks at the plate, scoring twice and stealing his 22nd bag of the season. Once Umberger left the game, the bullpen didn’t allow a run until the bottom of the ninth, when a wild pitch from righthander Pierce George handed the game-tying run to the Drive, 5-5 all and heading to extras. Neither team was able to score in the 10th, but the Dash snagged two in the 11th thanks to a wild pitch and an RBI ground out from George Wolkow. George was able to clean up his own mess, working a 1-2-3 inning to close the game and earn the win.
Fredericksburg Nationals 10, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3
The Cannon Ballers (31-31) outhit the Nationals (44-18), 12-11, but Kanny made three errors, went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base in the loss. Rightfielder Jaden Fauske was the offensive standout for the Ballers, going 2-for-5 with a triple and a home run while scoring twice and driving two in. Derek Cerda also posted three hits including a double, but unfortunately nothing came of them.
On the other side of the ball, the pitching staff was also riding the struggle bus. Righthander Truman Pauley made his 12th start of the season, and received his sixth loss of the year after relinquishing six runs on five hits, four walks, two Ks, and two homers. Really, Daniel Wright was the only pitcher to have a good day, tossing 1 2/3 frames with two hits and three strikeouts — the only Cannon Baller to not give up a run. Kanny will look to split the series tomorrow, while working to get back above .500.
ACL Guardians 9, ACL White Sox 6
The South Side rookies in the ACL league dropped their 21st game of the season. The Good Guys posted three in the first and another three later on and held a 6-5 lead going into the eighth, but a four-run frame for the Guards was the difference in this one as the White Sox bullpen gave up the lead. Righthander Reinder Gomez ended up with both the blown save and the loss. José Mendoza drove in two runs for the Sox, while Landon Hodge and Jefrank Silva each recorded multi-hit days (2-for-4), including a solo bomb from Silva in the fifth.
DSL Arizona Black 9, DSL White Sox 2 (7 innings)
The DSL squad is now riding a four-game losing streak after dropping Saturday’s game to the Arizona Black team, 9-2. The Sox had one more hit than Arizona, 6-5, but they only had four chances with runners in scoring position (2-for-4) and left six stranded in the process. Both Felix Lebron and Hector Hernandez racked up two-hit days, with Hernandez ripping a double and Lebron accounting for one of the runs batted in. The other RBI came from a solo blast from the catcher Ronald Cordozo — his second of the season. Righthander Enmanuel Rodriguez had the start, and he struggled through his 3 2/3 frames to secure his second loss of the season, though the arm barn wasn’t much better as they gave up five more runs once Rodriguez left the game.