White Sox Minor League Update: May 3, 2023
A wild finish for the Knights highlighted a split day for the affiliates
In a game that got intense later on, the Knights prevailed after a big 10th inning.
Knights starter Jesse Scholtens had an excellent game, delivering six brilliant, shutout innings. It took some time for Scholtens to receive run support, but he finally did in the fourth inning. That was when Lenyn Sosa, Oscar Colás, and Carlos Pérez hit three consecutive singles to open the inning. That made it 1-0, and the Knights tacked on one more that inning when Victor Reyes grounded into a double play that allowed Colás to score.
The Stripers were happy to see Scholtens leave the game, and they got on the board against Lincoln Henzman in the seventh. Henzman allowed a walk, a single (hey there, Yolmer Sánchez), and a wild pitch put two in scoring position. A sacrifice fly by Luke Waddell cut Gwinnett’s deficit in half.
In the eighth, the Knights got that run back when Sosa doubled and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Pérez. However, the Stripers tied it in the bottom half, when they used three singles and a passed ball to score a pair.
The game headed into the 10th, when the Knights finally put their feet on the gas. Control was a serious problem for Stripers reliever Roddery Muñoz, who issued four walks, three of which scored.
In the dirt & the lead is OURS!!! pic.twitter.com/7v2dhGUbG9
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) May 4, 2023
Overall, it was a sloppy inning for the Stripers, and the Knights scored three despite recording zero hits. Edgar Navarro closed it out on the mound for the Knights in the bottom half.
In the latter portion of this game, the Lookouts pulled away from the Barons, who could hardly get anything going offensively.
Chattanooga grabbed an early lead against Barons starter Garrett Davila in the bottom of the first. The Lookouts manufactured the first run of the game with a single, a stolen base, and another single. However, the Barons had a quick answer in the top of the second, when Luis Mieses launched his first home run of the young season.
The downside was that the Barons only had three other hits all game, and they did not manage to score after the homer. Davila was cruising through four innings, and the game was still tied at that point, but the Lookouts took a lead they did not relinquish in the fifth. Davila finished with three runs (all earned) in five innings. Reliever Luke Shilling struggled when he took over in the sixth. During that inning, he allowed four runs, and although one of those runs was unearned, it was a result of Shilling’s own error.
The Dash raced out to an early lead, and despite a late rally by Greensboro, Winston-Salem prevailed in a tight battle.
Terrell Tatum led off the bottom of the first with a single, and with one out, DJ Gladney drove him in with a double (much more from those two players later). Gladney also advanced to third on a throwing error, and he scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0. From there, Wilfred Veras doubled, and Wes Kath drove him in with a single to cap off a three-run first inning.
Although Dash starter Brooks Gosswein had a good performance overall, the first three Grasshoppers reached base safely against him to begin the second. Two walks and a single loaded the bases with no outs, and Greensboro cashed in on the opportunity by scoring a pair to get back within one.
In the bottom of the second, the Dash got one of their insurance runs back when Keegan Fish walked, Taishi Nakawake singled, Tatum singled, and Gladney reached via catcher interference.
The score remained 4-2 until the fifth, when Loidel Chapelli Jr. led off with a single, and Gladney launched his eighth home run of the season. Gladney, one of the better stories from the farm system this season and he’s our most recent MiLB Player of the Week, pushed his OPS up to 1.069.
A HOME RUN over the center field wall for @djglad11! @AtriumHealthWFB pic.twitter.com/z9cbifgLVa
— Winston-Salem Hyphens (@WSDashBaseball) May 3, 2023
Reliever Everhett Hazelwood had a rough time, as he inherited a 6-2 lead when he took over to begin the seventh. Hazelwood threw 29 pitches, and only 13 of them were strikes. None of the three true outcomes were favorable for Hazelwood, who walked two, allowed a home run, and did not rack up any strikeouts. Entering the bottom of the eighth, the game was tied at six.
Michael Turner, who had singled, was on first with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Fish and Nakawake drew back-to-back walks to keep the inning alive for Tatum, who delivered a clutch single to put the Dash back on top. Tristan Stivors closed the deal with a scoreless ninth inning to preserve Winston-Salem’s 7-6 lead.
The Cannon Ballers only tallied once during this low-scoring game, and despite starter Shane Murphy’s brilliance, they fell short.
After opening the game with three quiet innings, the Cannon Ballers offense found a spark in the fourth. With one out, Brooks Baldwin doubled, and Luis Pineda followed with a double of his own to give Kannapolis a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, Murphy was outstanding, and only one GreenJacket reached scoring position during his five innings on the mound. He only needed 67 pitches to get through his five frames, and after five, the Cannon Ballers still led by one.
Reliever Mark McLaughlin took over for Murphy to begin the sixth, and he did not have as easy of a time. After two batters, Augusta had already tied the game, as a walk and a triple put them on the board. Then, three consecutive two-out singles put the GreenJackets in front, 3-1. Augusta proceeded to tack on one more in the seventh, but it did not need any insurance, as the Cannon Ballers offense got cold down the stretch.