Charlotte Knights 3, Norfolk Tides 2 (Statcast Box) Righthander Duncan Davitt was solid through six innings for the Knights (57-65) and tossed nine strikeouts while earning the win over the Tides (52-67), 3-2. Davitt was hot right out of the gate and struck out the side against Norfolk in the first inning, and he gave up just two hits in his outing; the sole blemish was a solo home run given up in the bottom of the second. Davitt also racked up the second-most swings-and-misses in all of Triple-A
(15) on Thursday.
Charlotte’s offense put up nine hits in the game and was able to score early, as Will Robertson hit a leadoff bomb for his 20th of the season to Charlotte up, 1-0. Robertson, Jacob Amaya, and Dru Baker all put up two hits, but the second RBI came from Jacob Gonzalez in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly; the other a solo shot from Dominic Fletcher in the top of the eighth to put the Knights up two.
Cam Booser and Peyton Pallette were excellent in relief for Davitt, with both of them giving up one hit apiece in the seventh and eighth innings. Booser walked one and struck out two, and Pallette gave up a leadoff base hit and then struck out the next three batters. Chase Plymell came on in the bottom of the ninth to close it out, and was decent outside of the solo home run he gave up to cut the lead to one. Robertson made a diving catch in short right field for the second out of the inning before Plymell forced a pop out to end the game and earn the save.
Rocket City Trash Pandas 3, Birmingham Barons 2 (8 innings)
What was originally a makeup doubleheader ended up as a single game that went into extra innings after more than a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay, but the Barons (70-46) fell to the Trash Pandas (39-76), 3-2, in eight.
Connor McCollough began on the mound for Birmingham, and tossed for four excellent frames with just three hits given up and four strikeouts, with one unearned run for Rocket City that sprung from his own failed pickoff attempt that allowed a runner to score. Jake Palisch maintained for the next three innings with one walk and three strikeouts, and the one hit given up was a home run that allowed the Trash Pandas to tie the game at two, forcing extra innings.
The Barons offense had out-hit Rocket City 7-5, but Birmingham wasn’t able to score after the second. DJ Gladney drove in the first run with an RBI double, and Jason Matthews brought in the second run on a sacrifice fly. Both Gladney and Sam Antonacci had two hits in the game, but as a team the Barons went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.
Caleb Freeman was tasked with the eighth inning and the ghost runner on second, but a walk and single was enough for the Trash Pandas to take the lead. The Barons had one final chance in the bottom of the inning, and even got a free base on a balk, but both Wilfred Veras and Braden Montgomery struck out to end the game.
Winston-Salem Dash 5, Wilmington Blue Rocks 3
The Dash (47-68) posted eight hits and five runs to back up a great night from the pitching staff to defeat the Blue Rocks (50-66) and win their third game in a row, 5-3. Righthander Gage Ziehl was relatively efficient in his five inning start and gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits, a walk, and a strikeout, setting Winston-Salem up for success if the bats woke up.
Wilmington scored first, in the top of the first, on a sacrifice fly, but Alec Makarewicz tied it up in the bottom of the third on an RBI double to center, making it 1-1. The two teams traded the lead back-and-forth once more in the fifth and seventh — the Blue Rocks scoring again on a sac fly, and the Dash answering back with a … wild pitch! We will take it.
Finally putting together a rally, Winston-Salem tallied three in the bottom of the eighth. Three singles in a row loaded the bases, though the first run was scored via yet another sac fly, 3-2. The second run of the inning was manufactured by Jeral Perez, who stole second and triggered a throwing error that allowed Samuel Zavala to score. Wilmington went to the bullpen but that didn’t matter for Jackson Appel, as he drove in the third run of the inning on a base hit to right.
After Ziehl, the bullpen was outstanding, and all five relievers combined for just one hit (Jonathan Clark), but they also walked five. Seth Keener accounted for three of those walks in the top of the ninth, which put the Dash in dangerous territory after the Blue Rocks pushed one more across the plate — but Phil Fox bailed Keener out, sealing the win.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 8, Delmarva Shorebirds 2
The Cannon Ballers (53-64) mashed 12 hits and went 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position to crush the Shorebirds (43-73), 8-2. Righthander Ricardo Brizuela shut Delmarva down for five innings with just two hits given up and one unearned run after a batter reached based on a fielding error from Colby Shelton at third. Brizuela also walked one and struck out two while earning his first win of the year.
Righthander Gabriel Rodriguez managed the final four innings and was overall solid with the one run he gave up being a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. He gave up just one other hit and struck out two while earning his first save.
The offense exploded for three runs each in the third and fourth innings. Caleb Bonemer put up three hits, with a home run and double for two runs driven in. Ronny Hernandez and Colby Shelton also posted multi-hit games, though Jordan Sprinkle pushed in two RBIs and also had two steals on the night.
