Triple-A: Charlotte Knights 7, Norfolk Tides 6
The Tides staged a dramatic comeback attempt, but came up just short as they dropped their series opener to the Knights.
Starter Trace Bright ran into trouble in the 4th and 5th innings, surrendering seven runs across the two frames to put the Tides in a 7-3 hole. The scoreline would remain the same until the 8th inning, when the Norfolk offense woke up. With one out, José Barrero doubled to left, moved to third on a single by Ryan Noda, and scored on a Bryan Ramos groundout to short to make it 7-4.
In the 9th, Carter Young and Enrique Bradfield Jr. both walked to spark another rally. After a Jud Fabian lineout, Heston Kjerstad slashed a single to left to bring home Young and cut the deficit to two. It was a strong showing from the former top prospect, who finished 2-for-5 with RBIs on a groundout in the 1st and another RBI single in the 5th.
Creed Willems then struck out to put the Tides down to their last out. Barrero would walk to load the bases and keep the inning alive. Noda then made it back-to-back walks, forcing home Bradfield and putting the tying run on third base. However, Alfredo Velásquez couldn’t complete the comeback, grounding out to first on a 0-1 fastball to seal the Tides’ loss.
Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 7, Erie SeaWolves 6 (F/11)
The Baysox gave up a big lead in the late innings, only to rebound for a walk-off winner over the SeaWolves in the 11th inning.
Chesapeake came into the final three innings with a 5-1 lead thanks to a big 4th inning. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 4th, Brandon Butterworth quickly tied the game with a solo HR to left-center. Anderson De Los Santos then continued the rally with a single before Aron Estrada reached on an error. With two runners on, Thomas Sosa provided some fireworks of his own, blasting a three-run homer to right and putting the Baysox up 4-1.
Butterworth clobbered his second homer of the game in the 6th to grow the lead to four runs. The Baysox and SeaWolves traded runs in the 7th before Erie began chipping away at the lead in the 8th. An RBI single from Max Burt cut the lead to three.
After shutting down the rally in the 8th, Ryan Long tried to complete the save in the 9th. Instead, he walked the leadoff hitter and then gave up back-to-back homers as the SeaWovles tied the game at six. Estrada would get into scoring position with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, only for Willy Vasquez to fly out to send the game to extras.
Neither team could advance their Manfred Man in the 10th, as they combined for five strikeouts and a groundout. The SeaWolves started the 11th with a groundout that moved their Manfred Man to third. It would come to nothing, though, as a would-be sac fly turned into a double play when the Erie runner was thrown out at the plate. De Los Santos started the bottom of the 11th on second and quickly moved to third on a sac bunt. The Baysox then got an anti-climactic walk-off winner, with De Los Santos racing home on a wild pitch.
Single-A: Frederick Keys 10, Rome Emperors 2
The Keys bashed five home runs Tuesday and used the fireworks show to blast past the Emperors.
The first of the five long balls came from outfielder Reed Trimble, who led off the game with a solo shot to right field. Trimble, on a rehab assignment from the Tides, finished the game 3-for-4 and came a triple short of the cycle.
After the Emperors tied the game at one in the 3rd, Colin Tuft untied it in the 4th with a two-run double down the left field line. An inning later, Wehiwa Aloy hit his first of two homers, sending a two-run shot to center field to put the Keys up 5-2. The 2025 first-round pick finished the game 3-for-5 with the two long balls, a single, three runs and three RBIs.
An RJ Austin triple and subsequent wild pitch saw that lead grow to 6-2 before the 5th ended. The scoreline would remain the same until an offensive encore in the 8th. Colin Yeaman reached on a one-out single before Braylin Tavera sent a two-run blast deep into the Georgia night. Ike Irish and Aloy finished off the home run flourish, hitting back-to-back solo shots to push the lead to 1-02.
Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds vs. Hill City Howlers (Ppd.—Rain)
The Shorebirds and Howlers were rained out Tuesday and will play a doubleheader on Thursday.
Wednesday’s scheduled games
Norfolk Tides at Charlotte Knights, 7:04pm ET (Chris Kachmar vs. Mason Adams)
Chesapeake Baysox vs. Erie SeaWolves, 6:35pm ET (TBD vs. Max Alba)
Frederick Keys at Rome Emperors, 6:45pm ET (Yeiber Cartaya vs. TBD)
Delmarva Shorebirds at Hill City Howlers, 6:30pm ET (Andrew Herbert vs. Miguel Flores)
