Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 9, Charlotte Knights (White Sox) 8
Jackson Holliday’s rehab continued with a 1-for-3 performance that included a walk. He played second base for seven innings. Most of the offensive damage came on home runs. Reed Trimble and Sam Huff both went deep, while Ryan Noda left the park twice, including the game winner in the top of the ninth inning. Christian Encarnacion-Strand added a double and two RBI. Heston Kjerstad went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and a run scored.
Albert Suárez put together a nice outing as the starter. Over five innings
he allowed two runs on three hits, a walk, and six strikeouts. Nick Raquet worked 1.2 innings and gave up two runs. Christian Roa had a tough night. He recorded just one out but allowed four runs on five hits and two home runs. Luckily, Hans Crouse was able to lock things down for the final two frames, keeping Charlotte off the board and giving the Norfolk bats time to claw back the win.
Double-A: Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 5, Chesapeake Baysox 3
Luis De León was on the mound for 3.1 innings and allowed three runs, but none of them were earned due to a throwing error by Carter Young that extended the second inning and enabled all three runs to score. The lefty struck out three and walked two during his outing. Ben Vespi tossed 2.2 scoreless innings as the standout of the pitching staff in this one. Zane Barnhart took the loss, allowing two runs in his lone inning of relief. Cohen Achen continued his impressive season with a shutout eighth inning. His ERA is down to 0.71 with Chesapeake.
Seven different Chesapeake hitters had a base knock. Adam Retzbach tripled and Fernando Peguero doubled for the team’s only extra-base hits. Retzbach had two of the team’s RBIs while Young had the other one. Peguero also stole a base, his second of the year.
High-A: Frederick Keys 5, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees) 4
Frederick used three pitchers, and two of them were quite good. Boston Bateman started and allowed just one unearned run over 4.2 innings. his control was iffy as he walked five, but he also struck out five. Eccel Correa was brought on to record the final out of the fifth inning, which proved tricky. He gave up three runs before finally getting out of the frame. Twine Palmer came in to provide length, and ended up finishing out the game. The righty tossed four shutout innings, walking two and striking out four, to earn the win.
Vance Honeycutt led the Frederick offense with a 2-for-5 game that included a double, a stolen base, and a run. Wehiwa Aloy doubled, drove in a run, and scored once. Colin Tuft drove in a pair and stole a base as part of his 1-for-4 game. Ike Irish took an 0-for-4 with a strikeout while Victor Figueroa was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Low-A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros) 5, Delmarva Shorebirds 1
The Shorebirds had just four hits, two of which came from Braylon Whitaker in the lead-off spot. Whitaker also went 1-for-2 on stolen base attempts. The team’s only run came in on a wild pitch in the third inning. Other than that, it was a quiet night for the bats, who went 0-for-3 in their limited chances with runners in scoring position.
Esteban Mejia got the start on the bump. The 19-year-old is still working to harness his highly-touted stuff. Over 3.2 innings he allowed four runs on three hits, three walks, and five strikeouts. His season ERA is up to 6.85, though he lowered his walk rate ever so slightly…to 10.07 BB/9. Yikes! Things got better from there. Jason Shockley worked a scoreless inning, and then Keilen Hamson did well to give up just one run over the final 4.1 innings while striking out seven.
Thursday’s Schedule
Norfolk: at Charlotte, 7:04 pm. Starter: Trey Gibson (2-2, 4.01 ERA)
Chesapeake: at Akron, 6:35 pm. Starter: Juaron Watts-Brown (0-1, 7.56 ERA)
Frederick: at Hudson Valley, 7:00 pm. Starter: Yeiber Cartaya (0-0, 0.68 ERA)
Delmarva: vs Fayetteville, 6:35 pm. Starter: Christian Rodriguez (2-2, 3.51 ERA)
