Charlotte Knights 15, Norfolk Tides 3
The Knights (22-23) bats exploded for 15 hits, scoring as many runs to defeat the Tides (18-27) and split this week’s series. Duncan Davitt made his seventh start of the season, and though he’s held an elevated ERA of more than seven, he was able to lower it slightly today (to 6.43) after allowing two runs in his five innings of work while also receiving the win. The entire Charlotte pitching staff was just as efficient, and only walked two batters against nine combined strikeouts. Four relievers each managed an inning, and Adisyn Coffey gave up a solo homer to old White Sox pal Bryan Ramos, but both Jordan Leasure and Ben Peoples tossed hitless frames, with Peoples closing it out with a walk and three Ks to end the game.
On the other side of the ball, the Knights went 6-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left just four on base. Nearly everyone got a hit and all but Dru Baker scored a run, and five Charlotte batters posted two or more hits. The first four batters in the Charlotte lineup — Rikuu Nishida, Braden Montgomery, Oliver Dunn and Jacob Gonzalez — combined to go 10-for-16 and accounted for 11 of the 15 runs scored. Nishida had a perfect 3-for-3 day at the top of the order, and Gonzalez has been phenomenal for the entire series (12 RBIs and four homers, including two yesterday and another today). On top of that, Gonzalez also ripped two doubles, drove in four, and was a triple shy of the cycle.
Though Jacob led the squad in RBIs Dunn, Korey Lee and Dustin Harris each drove in three, including homers from Dunn and Harris. As a team, Charlotte walked six times and struck out eight, highlighting their patience at the plate.
Birmingham Barons 6, Rocket City Trash Pandas 5
The Barons (16-23) pulled off the comeback with a four-run seventh inning, and held on to defeat the Trash Pandas (20-19), 6-5. Rocket City tagged lefthander Jake Palisch early on for three runs, eventually giving up a fourth in the sixth, however, only two of the four runs allowed were earned due to a couple of errors. Birmingham posted nine hits as a team (all singles!) and went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Colby Shelton drove in three runs for the Barons, a sac fly in the third and a two-run homer to take the lead in the seventh, 5-4. The final run was handed over by the Trash Pandas on a wild pitch, which ended up being a much-needed insurance run to outlast Rocket City and avoid extra innings.
Jonathan Clark made it a little too interesting in the top of the ninth after he gave up a sacrifice fly to allow the Trash Pandas within one, but he was able to escape before things got too out of hand. The win went to Jairo Iriarte for handling the seventh when the Good Guys took the lead back, his third victory of the season.
Winston-Salem Dash 7, Wilmington Blue Rocks 5
Winston-Salem outhit the Blue Rocks (19-19), 9-7, while the Dash (23-16) pitching did just enough to maintain the lead and take five of six in the series, 7-5. Lefthander Justin Sinibaldi has struggled so far in 2026 and now sits at a rough 8.44 ERA; while he wasn’t as wild Sunday, he surrendered just two runs on three hits — two solo homers — in his 4 2/3 frames while walking one and striking out seven.
The Dash had taken an early lead, but Wilmington stole it back in the eighth after adding two in the top of the eighth off of Garrett Wright to make it 5-4, Blue Rocks. This caused Wright to wear a blown save, but he also ended up with the win after the Dash rallied for three in the bottom half of the inning to re-take the lead, 7-5. Caleb Bonemer was the hero for Winston-Salem, smashing a three-run bomb for his second hit of the day, one of three Dash hitters to post multi-hit games. Thankfully, Pierce George handled the ninth without any issue, earning his second save of the year.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 9, Charleston RiverDogs 3
The Cannon Ballers (18-21) defeated the RiverDogs (22-17), 9-3, to complete the White Sox affiliate sweep and take four of six in the series. Kannapolis was sound on both sides of the ball, with the pitchers only giving up three runs while the offense outhit Charleston, 11-8, with three doubles. Both Billy Carlson and Javier Mogollón popped three hits and scored twice, with Carlson mashing two of the two-baggers. It was Stiven Flores, however, who carried the weight offensively, driving in a third of Kanny’s runs (three), and Nathan Archer wasn’t two far behind with two batted in.
Lefthander Trey Cooper opened for the Ballers, and was perfect for two, paving the way for Caedmon Parker to handle the next five. Parker had run support immediately after Kanny scored two in the first, and though he did give up two on five hits, it was inconsequential since the Ballers posted seven more runs in the final four innings. Parker snagged his first win of the season, and Gabriel Rodriguez completed the last two frames to close out the day with a series dub.