Gwinnett Stripers 7, Charlotte Knights 3
The Knights (24-24) handed Gwinnett more than enough opportunities, and the Stripers made them pay. Between eight walks, shaky command from Hagen Smith, and another rough night with runners in scoring position, Charlotte dropped a game that felt winnable for about seven frames before it slipped away for good.
Walks, walks, and more walks — Smith’s command issues are the gift that keeps on giving, and Gwinnett pounced every time he missed the mark. The Stripers
got on the board in the second, the southpaw grooving a two-run shot and digging Charlotte an early hole.
The Knights answered in the top of the third. Rikuu Nishida singled with one out, Austin Hays worked a walk, and Jacob Gonzalez lined a base hit to center to plate Nishida and trim the deficit to 2-1.
Charlotte pulled even an inning later. Junior Perez opened the fourth with a single, and after Caden Connor lined out, Andy Weber ripped an RBI double to knot things up at two apiece.
Unfortunately for the Knights, the tie was gone in a blink. Smith came apart at the seams in the bottom half after two quick singles, then back-to-back walks to gift Gwinnett the lead. After recording a strikeout, Chad Pinder yanked him for Garrett Schoenle, who promptly walked in another run. It was 4-2 Stripers, and the wheels were wobbling. Smith’s line tells the tale: 3 2/3 innings, four hits, four runs, four walks, six punchouts. Still fighting the zone, still paying for it.
The Knights scratched back within one in the sixth, thanks to Gwinnett’s generosity. Perez led off with a single, took second on a botched pickoff, and Weber worked a walk after a successful ABS challenge. Another wild throw — this time by the third baseman on a Braden Montgomery fielder’s choice — loaded the bases. Nishida’s sac fly plated Perez, trimming it to 4-3 and giving Charlotte a bit of hope.
Whatever spark Charlotte had fizzled in the eighth. Reliever Adisyn Coffey was tagged for a crooked number as Gwinnett tacked on three runs to stretch the lead to 7-3, effectively putting the game out of reach. Charlotte went quietly in the ninth, retiring in order to end it.
The Knights went a feeble 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight and squandering every chance Gwinnett handed them — plenty of gifts, not enough takers.
Birmingham Barons 6, Biloxi Shuckers 4 (11 innings — suspended)
The Barons and Shuckers spent the night slugging it out, neither side able to land the haymaker before the skies got the last word. Eleven innings of chaos, Barons up 6-4, and then the rain yanked the plug. The ending? It’s on hold until tomorrow.
Things started late after a rain delay of more than an hour, and Biloxi jumped on Birmingham starter Connor McCullough early with single runs in the first and second innings. McCullough shook it off and gave the Barons five innings, two runs, five hits, no walks, five punchouts. The Barons? They went to the air. Jason Matthews uncorked a solo shot in the third, Alec Makarewicz matched him in the fourth, then Makarewicz did it again in the sixth. Three solo homers, and suddenly Birmingham had a 3-2 lead.
Biloxi answered back in the seventh, taking Nick Altermatt deep to knot things up. Nine innings, still gridlocked. In the 10th, Birmingham looked ready to blow it open with the ghost runner in, Anthony DePino single, and bases loaded, but the Barons fizzled and settled for one measly run. Shuckers answered right back. 4-4, on to the 11th.
That’s when Birmingham landed the big blow. The 11th started with a circus: bunt single, ghost runner scores, wild throw, Matthews gunned down stretching for second. Enter Jordan Sprinkle, who promptly launched one to left. Barons up 6-4.
Cue the rain. Again.
The top of the 11th never finished. The game was suspended with the Barons still at-bat and three opponent outs away from a win if the weather ever plays nice.
Winston-Salem Dash vs. Greensboro Grasshoppers — postponed
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1 (5 innings)
Five innings, job done. The Cannon Ballers (21-21) took advantage of Myrtle Beach’s early blunders and got a thunderclap from Javier Mogollón, then let the rain do the rest.
Kannapolis didn’t bother waiting around. No hits out of the infield, but they still scratched across a run in the first. Abraham Nuñez and Billy Carlson worked back-to-back walks, Mogollón chopped into a fielder’s choice, and then the Pelicans gift-wrapped a run: Fauske’s routine grounder turned into chaos when the pitcher airmailed the throw, Nuñez trotted home, and Mogollón scooted to third. Rylan Galvan whiffed to end it, but the Ballers had a 1-0 lead, all without a single honest hit.
They added a little breathing room in the third thanks to Mogollón’s bat. After a Nuñez single in the third, he got a pitch he liked and sent it packing for a two-run shot. It was 3-0 Ballers, and that was all the fireworks they’d need.
Truman Pauley held the Pelicans silent through four, but Myrtle Beach finally showed a pulse in the fifth with a solo homer, trimming it to 3-1. Nuñez knocked a triple in the bottom of the frame, Carlson went down looking, and then the skies opened up, and that was that. Rain called the rest, and with five innings in the books, the Ballers walked off with the win.
ACL Guardians 3, ACL White Sox 2
The ACL White Sox (5-9) took Kendry García’s gem and tossed it straight in the bin. García was untouchable for four innings — no hits, no runs, just mowing them down and padding his early-season resume. That’s one earned run in 11 innings for the 22-year-old, who looks like he’s pitching on a different planet. Yordani Soto even gave him a little cushion, finally cracking his first homer of the year to put the Sox up 1-0.
But as soon as García hit the showers, the Guards took advantage. Cesar Nuñez coughed up two runs and barely got an out. Then Cesar Familia took the baton and created a self-made mess: a throwing error, wild pitch, plunked batter, and a balk — Cleveland happily took the extra runs for a 3-1 lead. The Sox tried to claw back in the sixth when Landon Hodge singled, Soto doubled, and Alan Escobar got a run home with a ground out, but that was the end of the fight. Down to their last gasp in the seventh, the Sox went quietly in order to seal the loss.
