Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 5, Charlotte Knights 3
Playing against two rehabbing Yankees and their 4A team was too tall an order for the Knights, but this time the loss was on the arms.
Jonathan Cannon did a fair job stretching his start as long as possible. Although he gave up two home runs, his six innings pitched, six strikeouts, and three runs allowed bought Junior Perez and Mario Camilletti enough time to tie the game, 2-2, in the sixth with back-to-back RBI doubles. Although Cannon showed
his ceiling may be as a durable Triple-A player, any feelings of closure were halted when Anthony Volpe launched a two-run missile for the second night in a row.
Rikuu Nishida attempted to rally the team in the ninth to reclaim the lead, but Edgar Quero’s GIDP capped off a night of low offense and simply being out-played.
MVP
Junior Perez: 2-for-3, R, RBI, BB, K, SB
Runners-Up
Mario Camilletti: 1-for-3, RBI, BB, 2 K
Jonathan Cannon: 6 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 8 K, 2 HR
Rikuu Nishida: 2-for-5, RBI, K
Caden Connor: 2-for-4
Cold Cat
Garrett Schoenle: 1 IP, H, 2 R, BB, HR
Runners-Up
Tim Elko: 0-for-4, BB, 3 K
Joey Wiemer: 0-for-4, 2 K
Edgar Quero: 0-for-4, BB
Birmingham Barons 10, Chattanooga Lookouts 5
The Barons bats have caught fire, and are continuing their improbable playoff push. Another electric night at the plate put them at a four-game win streak, tying their longest this season!
A three-run blast from Alec Briley out of the gate got things started:
But the longballs kept coming, including two nuked by Colby Shelton:
Caleb Bonemer’s jack was a final highlight of Bham’s power-packed evening:
Together Briley, Shelton and Bonemer combined four hits, six runs, and seven RBIs. The first half of the lineup did a phenomenal job extending its eight hits as far as possible, leaving just four on base and going 3-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Although Dylan Cumming and Garrett Wright got banged around a bit in the first seven innings, they provided enough scoreless stretches for the bats to do their job. Jackson Kelley closed out the night with two exceptional innings, walking one and striking out three to secure the series over the Lookouts.
MVP
Colby Shelton: 2-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 K, 2 HR
Runners-Up
Alec Briley: 1-for-5, R, 3 RBI, K
Caleb Bonemer: 1-for-3, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB, K
Grant Magill: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 K
Jackson Kelley: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 3 K
Samuel Zavala: 1-for-3, R, BB, K
Cold Cat
Garrett Wright: 2 IP, H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K, HR
Runner-Up
Dylan Cumming: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, BB, 8 K, HR
Jacob Burke: 0-for-4, BB, 2 K
Bowling Green Hot Rods 2, Winston-Salem Dash 0 (suspended due to rain, bottom of the third inning)
The Dash and Hot Rods will resume their game in a doubleheader on August 22. The Dash are fighting for their playoff lives, so let’s hope they get their rest and can steal a couple from the juggernaut Hot Rods on Saturday.
Fredericksburg Nationals 6, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3
The Ballers and Nationals were neck-and-neck in a contest of which lineup could poke holes in the other’s bullpen, and the Nationals came out on top.
Kanny’s early 2-0 lead set the tone, starting with Matthew Boughton’s RBI double in the first and Stiven Flores’ sac fly in the second. Alexander Albertus added a supporting run with his RBI single in the third, making it 3-0, CBs.
Kanny had little time to enjoy its lead, though: Fabian Ysalla crumbled in the fourth after three clean frames, allowing Fredericksburg to tie it up with a walk, a few smooth swings of the bat, and Albertus’ poorly-aimed throw to second that erased a potential inning-ending double play. Ouch.
The fifth and sixth innings passed with neither team willing to capitalize on its scoring chances, but Fredericksburg didn’t waste its opportunity in the bottom of the seventh. The Nationals jumped on Ryan Schiefer, kindly accepting two free passes to first, a wild pitch and a single to load the bases. Once Schiefer was removed, Daniel Wright was put between a rock and a hard place to minimize damage. He was unsuccessful, and with the bases loaded and no outs, Fredericksburg put the game to bed. At least Wright wasn’t tagged with any earned runs.
MVP
Matthew Boughton: 1-for-4, R, RBI, BB, K
Runners-Up
Stiven Flores: 1-for-4, RBI, K
Frankeli Arias: 1 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Clay Burdette: 2-for-4, SB
Steven Lancia: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB
Cold Cat
Ryan Schiefer: 1/3 IP, H, 3 R, 2 BB
Runners-Up
Fabian Ysalla: 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Jake Berkland: 0-for-3, BB, K
