Charlotte Knights 5, Memphis Redbirds 4 (Opener — 9 innings) The Knights (69-61) opened up Saturday’s doubleheader with a bang, forcing a pair of extra innings before walking off the Redbirds (71-59) in nine innings. Because it was a seven-inning game, it was key that the Charlotte took an early three-run lead in the bottom of the first, especially since they ran with a bullpen game for the opener. Overall, the pitching was decent despite using six arms, with just three earned surrendered on nine hits
and two walks, and combining for six strikeouts. Shane Smith made his first relief appearance by tossing a clean, 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, but Memphis wound up taking the lead just a couple innings later, pouring on four runs in the sixth after a rare Garrett Schoenle blown save.
Though he ended the day going 1-for-4 with three strikeouts, Kyle Teel jump-started the Knights offense in the first with a base hit to left, which was his second hit in his three rehab starts (2-for-10) with the Knights. This was the second game in a row that Kyle put on the gear behind the plate, and while the White Sox are being more cautious this time around it’s likely we see Teel back with the big-league club in the next week or so.
Back-to-back singles from Korey Lee and Joey Weimer, alongside an error from Memphis’ right fielder, is how Charlotte had scored their first three runs. The two that scored from Lee’s single came around on a single-turned-error triple, so only Weimer driving in the third run was credited with an RBI. The Knights similarly made an error that let up an unearned run after Andy Weber couldn’t hold on to the ball to tag a runner out at second. It was an excellent throw by Junior Perez in right field, which had beaten the runner by several steps, with the assist still being awarded to Perez.
It was crunch time for the Knights after losing the lead, but Perez took matters into his own hands and blasted a game-tying home run to stave off the loss and bail Weber out:
Neither team was able to score the ghost runner in the eighth, and righthander Jairo Iriarte shut the Redbirds down in both extra frames. Iriarte secured his fifth win of the season after Dru Baker led off the ninth inning with a base hit to score ghost runner Perez as the game-winning run, which was only right after all of the work he did to get to that point:
MVP
Junior Perez (RF): 1-for-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, K, game-tying HR, game-winning R, outfield assist
Runners-Up
Jairo Iriarte (RHRP): 2 IP, 0 H, WIN (5-1)
Joey Weimer (LF): 1-for-4, RBI, K
Dru Baker (CF): 1-for-4, game-winning RBI, K
Adisyn Coffey (RHRP): 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, K
Shane Smith (RHRP): 1 IP, 0 H, Hold
Chris Murphy (RHSP): 1 1/2 IP, H, 0 R, 2 K
Cold Cat
Andy Weber (SS): 0-for-3, 2 K, E (missed catch)
Runners-Up
Garrett Schoenle (LHRP): 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K, WP, IBB
Nick Altermatt (RHRP): 1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), K, Hold
Riley Unroe (3B): 0-for-2, BB, 2 K
Charlotte Knights 2, Memphis Redbirds 0 (Nightcap — 7 innings)Righthander David Sandlin plowed straight through the Redbirds (71-60), only relinquishing two hits in the seven-inning shutout, allowing the Knights (70-61) to sweep the doubleheader with a 2-0 victory. The righty earned his third win of the season while racking up nine strikeouts — the most Ks in an outing for Sandlin all season.
The Knights tallied six hits against the Redbirds, but they didn’t give themselves many opportunities to score by going 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. On the other hand, Charlotte was putting the ball in play consistently and only struck out once as a team in 21 at-bats, but just couldn’t get anything going. Joey Weimer put together a multi-hit day, and aside from Memphis pitcher Josh Fleming, Weimer was the only one to actually contribute to the final score. To lead off the bottom of the second, Weimer hit a solo moonshot (439 feet) to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
Tim Elko and Caden Connor led off the bottom of the fifth with consecutive base hits that put runners on the corners for Jason Matthews. During Matthews’ at-bat, the umpire called a balk against Fleming that ultimately brought Elko in to score the second (and final) run for the Good Guys, 2-0. Without seeing a video, we have no way to know what move Fleming made that might have been called a balk, but apparently it was enough to get the Redbirds manager, Ben Johnson, ejected from the game.
With the doubleheader sweep, Charlotte has a chance to take the series with a win Sunday, with righthander Drew Thorpe is set to take the mound.
MVP
David Sandlin (RHSP): 7 IP, 2 H, BB, 9 K, CG, WIN (3-0)
Runners-Up
Joey Weimer (RF): 2-for-3, R, RBI, HR
Tim Elko (1B): 1-for-2, R, K
Caden Connor (LF): 1-for-2
Cold Cat
Korey Lee (DH): 0-for-3
Runners-Up
Dru Baker (CF): 0-for-3
Mario Camilletti (3B): 0-for-2, left 1 RISP
Rocket City Trash Pandas 6, Birmingham Barons 2Behind a rough start from lefthander Lucas Gordon, the Barons (54-71) were outhit, 11-5, and only scraped two runs across the board, dropping their third game of the series to the Trash Pandas (65-59). Gordon survived the first three innings, only surrendering one run in the second despite Rocket City constantly poking base hits. But Gordon’s outing eventually imploded in the fourth, when the Trash Pandas tallied five runs to take the lead, 6-1. Four runs were credited to Gordon, and Jonathan Clark unfortunately couldn’t clean up the mess; in fact, he made it worse by walking three and letting in two more.
The Birmingham bullpen only surrendered one more hit after that, however, and between Carson Jacobs (2 IP), Phil Fox (2 IP), and Garrett Wright (1 IP), the Trash Pandas struck out six more times.
But the Barons offense couldn’t make the comeback. Alec Briley was the lone Barons batter with a multi-hit day, and he was also responsible for driving in one of their two runs. Dylan Campbell led off the game with a base hit to right, and Briley tripled a couple of batters later to drive him in and take a one-run lead that disappeared almost as fast as it came. The Barons had gotten a rally going in the seventh and loaded the bases with two outs. Campbell recorded the other RBI for Birmingham by walking with the bases loaded, but Caleb Bonemer succumbed to the pressure and struck out to end the inning, 6-2, and that was all she wrote.
MVP
Alec Briley (3B): 2-for-3, RBI, BB, K, 3B
Runners-Up
Dylan Campbell (RF): 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB, 2 K
Carson Jacobs (RHRP): 2 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 4 K, WP
Phil Fox (RHRP): 2 IP, 0 H, 2 K
Garrett Wright (RHRP): 1 IP, H, 0 R
Cold Cat
Lucas Gordon (LHSP): 3 1/3 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 K, LOSS (3-7)
Runners-Up
Jonathan Clark (RHRP): 2/3 IP, H, 2 R, 3 BB, K
Caleb Bonemer (CF): 0-for-4, K
Ryan Burrowes (SS): 0-for-4, K
Grant Magill (C): 0-for-4, 2 K, E (throw)
Winston-Salem Dash 10, Bowling Green Hot Rods 3
Winston-Salem overcame Friday’s extra-inning loss by putting a beat down on the Hot Rods (78-45), as the Dash (69-55) scored in all but three frames to win their third game of the series, 10-3. Lefthander Grant Umberger was solid in his 5 2/3 frames, letting in just two runs on five hits while striking out six to earn his 10th win of the season. The Dash offense mashed 13 hits on the day and went 6-for-14 (.429) with runners in scoring position, which helped the pitching staff remain calm and maintain the lead.
Ely Brown had a monstrous day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with five runs batted in, even scoring twice himself and stealing two bags. The lefty slugger drove in all five on good old-fashioned base hits, coming through four times in the clutch, including a two-RBI base hit with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth. The offensive magic didn’t stop there, however, as Jeral Perez and James Taussig blasted back-to-back homers in the bottom of the fifth that extended the Dash lead to six.
Both Trey Cooper and Max Banks were great out of the pen, despite a run scoring off Banks in the top of the eighth. Banks also racked up three Ks in his two innings, and Umberger’s efficient outing helped preserve the bullpen for the series finale Sunday.
MVP
Ely Brown (CF): 4-for-5, 2 R, 5 RBI, K, 2-for-2 SB
Runners-Up
Kyle Lodise (SS): 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 K
Grant Umberger (LHSP): 5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 6 K, WP, HB, WIN (10-7)
George Wolkow (RF): 1-for-5, RBI, 2 K, outfield assist
Jeral Perez (3B): 2-for-5, R, RBI, HR
James Taussig (DH): 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB, K, HR, 1-for-1 SB
Wes Kath (1B): 1-for-2, 3 R, 2 BB, 2B, GIDP
Bullpen (Trey Cooper & Max Banks): 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, R, BB, 3 K, HB
Cold Cat
Javier Mogollón (2B): 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 K
Runner-Up
Rylan Galvan (C): 0-for-2, R, BB, K, HBP
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 7, Hill City Howlers 5
The Cannon Ballers (66-59) were trailing by two runs heading into the ninth inning, but the offense rallied for four to take the lead and ultimately defeat the Howlers (53-71), 7-5. Hill City’s defense committed four errors throughout the game, and two of Kanny’s seven runs were unearned, which was just the edge that the Ballers needed to steal this one.
Lefthander Nick Pinto manned the first four frames for Kannapolis, yielding three runs on five hits with three strikeouts. All three runs allowed came in the second, as Hill City led off the inning with three hits in a row, the final being a two-run double that tied the game 2-2. After striking out the next batter, the Howlers took the lead on a sacrifice fly, 3-2, before Pinto eventually worked his way out of the inning. Righthander Kendry Garcia didn’t fare much better, and was pulled after two runs scored in the bottom of the fifth that allowed Hill City to take the lead, 5-2.
Offensively, the Ballers were getting hits, but they had a difficult time driving runners home. As a team they went 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base, but also worked seven walks and did walk away with a win in the end. Jaden Fauske and Efren Teran tallied two hits apiece, though it was Clay Burdette who led the team with two RBIs. During their ninth-inning rally, Fauske drove in the first run to put Kannapolis within one, and Stiven Flores tied the game at five on a sacrifice fly.
That’s when Burdette came through in the clutch, ripping a two-run triple out to left that gave the Good Guys a two-run lead, picking up his teammates exactly when it mattered. With the game on the line in the bottom of the ninth, lefthander Grant Cleavinger struck out three to close it out and earn his second save of the season.
MVP
Clay Burdette (CF): 1-for-4, 2 RBI (go-ahead in 9th), BB, 3 K, 3B
Runners-Up
Jaden Fauske (LF): 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB, 2B
Abraham Nuñez (DH): 1-for-3, R, RBI, 2 BB (1 IBB), K, 2B
Stiven Flores (C): 1-for-4, RBI, SF (game-tying), PO
Efren Teran (2B): 2-for-4, R, 2B
Ryan Shiefer (RHRP): 2 1/3 IP H, BB, PO
Nick Weyrich (RHRP): 1 IP, H, 0 R, BB, WIN (2-1)
Grant Cleavinger (LHRP): 1 IP, 0 H, 3 K, Save
Cold Cat
Kendry Garcia (RHRP): ⅔ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, HB, 16-of-35 strikes
Runners-Up
Alexander Albertus (3B): 0-for-3, BB, K
Grayson Fitzwater (1B): 0-for-5, 2 K
Nick Pinto (LHSP): 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 K
