Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 2, Charlotte Knights 0 (Statcast box)
The Knights (60-75) managed to outhit the Shrimp, but you would not know it from the scoreboard. Seven hits, one lonely double from Dominic Fletcher, and a big fat goose egg, going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Twice, they got a man to third, and twice they failed. Not a pinch of clutch to be found.
Shane Murphy finally got the bump to Charlotte after dominating with Birmingham for a 10-4 record and a microscopic 0.85 WHIP
in 120-plus innings. Welcome to Triple-A, kid: the Shrimp greeted him rudely, cobbling together a run in the first with a single, a walk, a swipe, and a sac fly. Jacksonville tacked on with a solo shot in the third. Murphy’s line: five innings, two runs, four hits, two walks, four punchouts. Not a disaster, but not the splashy debut we were hoping for either. Kyle Tyler and Jairo Iriarte came out of the pen and stitched together four innings of scoreless relief.
Chatanooga Lookouts 9, Birmingham Barons 5
The Barons (76-53) spent the early going in a hole, chasing a 4-0 Lookouts lead. Finally, in the fifth, they found their footing: Corona doubled, Nishida knocked him in, then promptly stole second for good measure. Bergolla smacked a double to left to plate Nishida, and Gladney contributed with a single to score Bergolla. It was now 4-3, and the Barons looked like they were back in it. But Chattanooga extinguished that comeback quickly by answering with two runs in their half and piling on three more in the seventh. Birmingham tried to scrape together a rally in the ninth — two runs on a couple of plunked batters, a walk, and a single — but the hole was too deep.
The contest featured a showcase for a couple of the system’s best young arms. Instead, Chattanooga feasted. Tanner McDougal, Chicago’s No. 7 prospect, who has been on an innings limit since July, got mauled tonight: three innings, four runs, seven hits, two walks, just one K. Not exactly building on that gem from August 29, when he blanked the Smokies for three frames. Tyler Schweitzer, No. 29, saw his scoreless streak (dating back to July 18!) go up in smoke, coughing up five runs (four earned) on five hits in his two innings. Chalk it up to possible late-season dead arms. Only Jared Kelly escaped unscathed, mopping up without letting anyone cross.
Winston-Salem Dash, Greenville Drive (Postponed)
Makeup game Saturday, September 6.
Augusta GreenJackets 7, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 0
The Ballers’ (62-67) offense hit snooze and never woke up. One lonely hit through five, a couple of meaningless singles tossed in late, and that was the story. They went a ghastly 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and not a single Ballers runner so much as sniffed third base.
Luis Reyes got the start for Kannapolis. The 19-year-old righthander served up a solo homer in the second, then watched another run cross thanks to a throwing error in the third. That was it for Reyes, three innings and done. Madison Jeffrey came on and promptly poured gasoline on the fire: three runs, two hits, a walk, a strikeout, all in a single inning. Pierce George and Blake Shepardson followed, each tossing two frames and giving up a run, just to make sure this one was well and truly out of reach.
