Nashville Sounds 6, Charlotte Knights 3
After a one-sided victory on Tuesday, the Knights (47-42) dropped a game against the red-hot Sounds (51-38), who managed to even up the series in Charlotte.
Rikuu Nishida led off the bottom of the first with a single, and Munetaka Murakami drove a double to deep center that put the Knights ahead, 1-0. Early on, the Knights were picking up from where they left off on Tuesday, but the lead did not last long.
Knights starter David Sandlin, 25, had a solid outing, pitching around some control issues and only allowing two runs in five innings. The Sounds scored both of their runs against Sandlin in the second, when Sandlin allowed two singles and issued three walks. Well done to Sandlin for recovering from that long, laborious frame.
The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth, when Nishida picked up his second leadoff single of the day. Nishida proceeded to steal second, and he is now 18-for-24 in stolen base attempts this season (all in the minors, no attempts in the majors). This time, Murakami popped out, but Edgar Quero drove in Nishida with a single to tie the game.
Knights reliever Lucas Sims did not have an outing to remember, as the Sounds were ready to swing the bat against him in the seventh. Sims allowed four runs on three hits, and he issued three walks while only recording one out.
In the eighth, Knights outfielder Nolan Jones drove in a run with a single, but it was too little, too late, as the Sounds held on after a quiet ninth.
Columbus Clingstones 3, Birmingham Barons 2
The Barons (31-52) dropped another one-run game to the Clingstones (37-41) in Columbus.
Barons starter Juan Carela, 24, had a decent start, and he got through the first two innings without allowing any runs. However, the third frame was not so easy. With one out, Patrick Clohisy doubled, and Luke Waddell homered to drive in a pair. Carela had a couple of positives, as he struck out five and only issued one walk. However, that two-run homer was costly in this low-scoring game.
The Barons got on the board in the top of the sixth, when Jacob Burke hit a one-out double, and Alec Briley drove him in with a single. However, Waddell and the Clingstones went back to work in the bottom of the sixth, as Waddell took reliever Nick Altermatt deep.
In the seventh, with two outs and nobody on base, Dylan Campbell extended the inning with a single. Campbell proceeded to steal second, and he advanced to third on a throwing error. From there, Colby Shelton drove in Campbell with a single, but the Barons failed to score the tying run.
Winston-Salem Dash 15, Asheville Tourists 9
In a bizarre game, the Dash (48-35) somehow held on for a high-scoring matchup against the Tourists (28-54).
The teams traded runs in the first, and the score remained 1-1 until the third, when the Dash started to pull away. Jeral Perez doubled to put the Dash ahead, and in the fourth, the Dash added two more. The biggest hit during the two-run fourth inning was an RBI double by Eddie Park.
The Tourists picked up one run in the fourth, but despite issuing six walks in five innings, Sinibaldi managed to limit the damage. When Sinibaldi left the game, the Dash had a 7-2 lead, as Ryan Burrowes launched a solo homer, and Kaleb Freeman drove in a pair in the fifth.
The Dash picked up another run in the sixth, when Burrowes went deep yet again. Burrowes simply could not be stopped in this game, as he had three hits, two of which were homers, he drew a walk, and he stole his 28th base in 36 attempts this season.
After the second homer by Burrowes, the score was 8-2, and the Dash appeared to have firm control of this game. However, incredibly, the Tourists scored four in the eighth and two in the ninth to extend the game.
After the Dash failed to score in the top of the 10th, they were in serious trouble. However, after allowing a leadoff single that sent the potential winning run to third with no outs, reliever Garrett Wright stranded everyone by picking up three consecutive strikeouts. Then, in the 11th, the Dash scored seven to finally put the game away. Perez doubled to put the Dash ahead, George Wolkow launched a two-run homer, and they were not nearly done. Freeman and Ely Brown doubled, and Arxy Hernández homered to add the exclamation point.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 9, Delmarva Shorebirds 8
Kannapolis (42-41) climbed above .500 with an exciting victory over the Shorebirds (29-54).
Jaden Fauske drew a walk to open the game, and he advanced to second on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt. Matthew Boughton, the game’s second batter, put Kannapolis on the board with an RBI single. Then, with one out, Stiven Flores drove Boughton in with a single of his own, and suddenly, the Cannon Ballers had a 2-0 lead.
Cannon Ballers starter Gabriel Rodriguez, 22, performed admirably, pitching 3 2/3 shutout innings, only allowing two hits. As a result, the score was 2-0 when Rodriguez left the game, and the score remained the same until the sixth.
The Cannon Ballers extended their lead in the top of the sixth, when Derek Cerda reached on an error to open the inning. From there, Flores, Nick McLain, and Christian Gonzalez hit three consecutive singles. After the Gonzalez single, the bases were loaded, and the score was 3-0. After that, a productive ground out by Alexander Albertus and a sacrifice fly by Steven Lancia combined with an error resulted in the lead being extended to six.
Surprisingly, the Shorebirds were not done, as they scored three in the sixth, three in the seventh, and two in the eighth. However, the Cannon Ballers offense scored enough in the latter portion of the game to come away with the victory. The Cannon Ballers scored their final three runs on an RBI single by Boughton in the seventh, an RBI single by Lancia in the eighth, and an RBI single by Fauske in the eighth. Even though the Kannapolis bullpen had many issues, Jesús Méndez entered the game in the ninth, and he picked up the save by retiring all three batters he faced.
ACL Dodgers 8, ACL White Sox 7 (7 innings)
As we have said many times this season, the pitching staff of the ACL White Sox (14-35) did not get the job done, so the Complex Sox took the loss.
After falling behind 2-0 on a two-run homer, the Complex Sox put together a great inning. Alejandro Cruz opened the inning with a walk, and with one out, Marcelo Alcala walked. From there, Yordani Soto and Calvin Harris hit back-to-back doubles to put the Complex Sox ahead, 3-2. In the fourth, the Complex Sox added an insurance run, when Landon Hodge led off the frame with a triple, and Alan Escobar hit a sacrifice fly.
However, the lead did not last. In the top of the sixth, seven of the first eight ACL Dodgers reached base safely. The ACL Dodgers scored five that inning to take a 7-4 lead. Entering this game, the Complex Sox ranked 11th of 15 in the ACL with a 6.76 ERA (yes, somehow, four teams have a worse ERA), and that number only increased tonight.
The Complex Sox took advantage of some wildness from their opponents’ bullpen, scoring three runs on only one hit in the bottom of the sixth. That big inning resulted in the game being tied entering the seventh. Howver, the ACL Dodgers put themselves ahead for good in the top of the seventh.
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