Memphis Redbirds vs Charlotte Knights (Postponed due to rain)
Charlotte’s date with the International League East leader has been postponed due to rain. The Knights and Redbirds will play a doubleheader on August 29.
Birmingham Barons 3, Rocket City Trash Pandas 2
Thanks for coming out of hiding, Barons pitchers, we’ve missed you all season! It’s better late than never, as despite a terrible, 54-70 season record, Birmingham remains one game out of second-half postseason qualification, at 28-27.
Barons
pitchers were shoving. Rocket City had to settle for just one run during starter Jake Palisch’s five innings, as he allowed just six hits, two walks, and that sole run while punching out five. Mathias LaCombe built off the pitching momentum and blanked Rocket City while adding three strikeouts of his own, and Liam Paddack followed in step with two whiffs and a strikeout looking in the eighth. But the ninth was a whole other ball of wax. Paddack’s no-nonsense eighth was a distant memory, as he walked two and hit two batters and gave up the tying run with two outs and the sacks packed. Though it was an admirable night on the pitching front, it came to a disappointing close.
The mostly lights-out pitching provided Bham’s offense enough leniency to survive with hits that were few and far between. Colby Shelton got a break from being an RBI workhorse, but he still scored on a Jose Colmenares sac fly in the third. Alec Briley, as expected, generated the second run with a sac fly in the fifth, scoring Dylan Campbell. For much of the game, the Barons did nothing else to produce runs, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranding nine on the bases. However, in the bottom of the ninth and the game knotted at two apiece with runners on the corners, Caleb Bonemer came through with a walk-off single to remind fans why he’s still the top shortstop on the farm.
MVP
Jake Palisch: 5 IP, 6 H, R, 2 BB, 5 K
Runners-Up
Mathias LaCombe: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Colby Shelton: 2-for-3, R, BB
Alec Briley: 1-for-3, RBI
Samuel Zavala: 1-for-1, 2 R, 3 BB
Caleb Bonemer: 1-for-4, RBI, BB, K
Cold Cat
Grant Magill: 0-for-4, 3 K
Runners-Up
Dylan Campbell: 2-for-5, 2 K
Ryan Burrowes: 1-for-3, BB, K
Bowling Green Hot Rods 11, Winston-Salem Dash 7 (10 innings)
Despite the 10 1/2-game difference between Bowling Green and Winston-Salem, the battle among the South Atlantic League South leaders was an even match. Until extra innings.
The Dash needed a team-wide effort to keep up with the Hot Rods at the plate and offset their own pitching blunders. Although they did get some help from George Wolkow’s sac fly in the sixth and a bases-juiced walk in the eighth, Javier Mogollón’s exceptional three-hit evening and home run sent the game to extras:
By the start of the 10th, Justin Sinbaldi’s costly pickoff error and Drew Conover’s three-run relief outing were forgotten. But Winston-Salem wasn’t anywhere close to out of the woods.
Landen Payne, who has been exceptional this year with eight saves and 42 strikeouts, didn’t deliver the closeout everyone expected. After allowing the ghost runner to steal third, Payne secured one out before giving up the go-ahead run on a competitive pitch almost in the dirt. His confidence shaken, he was pulled from the game and replaced by Carlton Perkins, who did worse. The next three batters walked and were hit by pitches, turning the 7-7 tie into 9-7 within moments. By then, the writing was on the wall, and all the Dash could do was figure out the fastest way to end the game.
Although it ended unceremoniously and the Hot Rods pulled back ahead of the Dash in the second-half standings, notable performances by Riley Gowens and Mogollón helped Winston-Salem keep the game within arm’s reach.
MVP
Javier Mogollón: 3-for-6, 3 2 R, 3 RBI, K, HR, SB
Runners-Up
Riley Gowens: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K
Ely Brown: 2-for-6, 2 R, RBI, K
James Taussig: 2-for-5, R, K
Jackson Appel: 1-for-2, R, RBI, 2 K
Trey Cooper: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K
Cold Cat
Justin Sinbaldi: 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K, E
Runners-Up
Drew Conover: 1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, K
Blake Perkins: 2/3 IP, H, 2 R, BB, K
George Wolkow: 0-for-4, RBI, 2 K
Landen Payne: 1 1/3 IP, H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Hill City Howlers 5, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 1
Hill City got the best of Kannapolis in a match where nothing went in the CBs’ favor. The lineup tallied 15 strikeouts and managed just five hits, with Efran Teran accounting for three. Jaden Fauske and Grayson Fitzwater created plenty of wind energy, the former striking out thrice and the latter earning a golden sombrero. Landon Hodge drove Jake Berkland in to score Kanny’s only run in the second, but the rest of the offense was dead. Considering only three runners got into scoring position, it’s a miracle the Ballers didn’t get blanked. While things couldn’t have gotten much worse with hitting, the pitching crew didn’t do their best, either. Fabian Ysalla exhibited another disappointing start, but at least he lasted five innings. By the time Ysalla was pulled and Andrew Berg and Frankeli Arias came into the game, it was clear the bats couldn’t rally, so surrendering two more runs didn’t make a difference for the struggling relievers.
MVP
Efran Teran: 3-for-3
Runners-Up
Landon Hodge: 1-for-3, RBI, 2 K
Jake Berkland: 0-for-2, R, BB, K
Frankeli Arias: 2 IP, 2 H, R, 3 K
Cold Cat
Grayson Fitzwater: 0-for-4, 4 K
Runners-Up
Jaden Fauske: 0-for-4, 3 K
Fabian Ysalla: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, K
Steven Lancia: 0-for-4, 2 K
Crew McChesney: 0-for-3, 2 K
