Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 3, Charlotte Knights 2
The Knights (7-9) struggled in high-leverage situations, finishing 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. As a result, they dropped a close game against the Jumbo Shrimp (9-8).
Knights starter Duncan Davitt only pitched 2 1/3 innings, but he didn’t allow much damage. Davitt allowed a walk and a pair of singles in the second, allowing Jacksonville to get on the board first. However, that was the only Jacksonville run against Davitt.
In the top of
the fourth, LaMonte Wade Jr. blasted his first homer of the young season to tie the game at one. However, the Jumbo Shrimp immediately retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back doubles against Tyler Schweitzer.
All things considered, Schweitzer’s relief appearance was a successful one, as he recovered from those doubles and did not allow any other runs in 2 2/3 innings of work. Schweitzer also tallied five strikeouts.
The Knights tied the game for the second time in the seventh, when Jacob Gonzalez picked up a clutch single with two outs to drive in Mario Camilletti.
However, the Jumbo Shrimp again made sure that the tie did not remain intact for long. In the eighth, with runners on first and second and one out, Jacksonville took advantage of a fielding error by Camilletti to score the go-ahead run.
The Knights had some life in the top of the ninth, as back-to-back bloop singles with two outs gave Gonzalez a chance for another big RBI. This time, Gonzalez did not come through, as a fly out to left ended the game.
Rocket City Trash Pandas 11, Birmingham Barons 2
The Barons (4-7) were dominated from start to finish by Rocket City (5-6) on Wednesday.
All three Barons batters in the top of the first were retired, and Rocket City wasted no time putting runs on the board. Barons starter Lucas Gordon’s first inning was no picnic, as the first five Trash Pandas reached base safely. By the end of the first frame, Rocket City had a 4-0 lead, and the bullpen hardly performed any better. Gordon lasted three innings, allowing five earned runs, and the bullpen pitched five innings, allowing six earned runs.
The Barons scored their only runs in the eighth, when Calvin Harris singled, Adam Fogel was hit by a pitch, and Jordan Sprinkle singled to load the bases. Productive outs by Rikuu Nishida and Braden Montgomery resulted in Birmingham’s only two runs.
Asheville Tourists 14, Winston-Salem Dash 7
It was a rough day for the Winston-Salem pitching staff, as the Tourists (4-7) beat the Dash (6-5) handily to even the series.
Dash starter Grant Umberger had an outing he would like to forget as soon as possible. Justin Thomas Jr., the first batter of the game, homered off Umberger to give Asheville an early lead. The Tourists added three more in the first, and they tacked on a pair in the second to blow the game open early.
Umberger allowed two more in the top of the fourth, as the Tourists were relentless. The Dash showed some life in the bottom of the fourth, getting on the board with a two-run homer from Caleb Bonemer. Is anyone surprised that Bonemer went deep? Personally, I’m not even slightly surprised that he was the one to end the streak of eight unanswered Asheville runs.
The Winston-Salem bullpen was hardly more effective than Umberger, allowing six earned runs in five frames, so the Tourists did not give the Dash any hope. However, the Dash did put up seven runs, as they found power down the stretch. Boston Smith homered twice, and T.J. McCants also went deep.
Myrtle Beach Pelicans 5, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4 (10 innings)
The Cannon Ballers (2-9) remained cold, losing a tight one against Myrtle Beach (7-4) for their fourth consecutive defeat.
Like many pitchers in the organization, Kannapolis starter Max Banks did not have his finest stuff. Banks allowed a two-run homer to Cole Mathis in the first and another two-run homer to the same batter in the third. The good news for Banks is that despite his struggles against Mathis, he is off to a strong start to the season, as he still has a 3.27 ERA early on.
When Banks left the game after three frames, the Cannon Ballers still had hope, mostly because Stiven Flores drove in a pair with a two-out double in the third. Then, in the fourth, Abraham Núñez went deep to trim the deficit to one.
The score remained 4-3 until the top of the eighth, when Javier Mogollón launched his first homer of the year to tie the game. Just like that, the Cannon Ballers had worked their way back, but the offense ran out of steam after that.
The Kannapolis bullpen was terrific overall, allowing zero earned runs in six innings. However, Jackson Nove did not strand the free base runner in the 10th. Meanwhile, the Cannon Ballers failed to take advantage of their free base runner, so they lost this one in extras.
