White Sox Minor League Update: June 26, 2024

A thrilling victory in Birmingham was the highlight of a 2-2 day

Charlotte Knights 6, Norfolk Tides 4 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
The Knights picked up another victory, and have now won nine of their last 10.

Charlotte wasted no time getting the party started in the top of the first. Mark Payton and Wilmer Difo drew back-to-back walks to open the game, and two batters later, Michael Chavis stepped up to the plate. Chavis got a cutter to his liking, and he drove it 402 feet for a three-run homer.

Chavis, 28, has spent the entire season in Triple-A, and this was his ninth homer. His season OPS rose to .813 with his strong performance today.

Knights starter Touki Toussaint had a decent performance, as he allowed two runs in five innings. An RBI single by Coby Mayo in the first and an RBI single by Connor Pavolony resulted in the two Tides runs against Toussaint. Toussaint struck out six, and overall there was more good than bad from his outing.

Bryan Ramos doubled in a run in the third, and he was not done, as it was the first of three hits for Ramos during his great game. The Knights scored again in the fifth, when Chavis reached on an error that allowed Payton, who had singled, to score.

In the seventh and with a 5-2 lead, the Knights added an insurance run. Payton singled, Difo walked, and they advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch. Surprisingly, Ramos reached on catcher interference, so Payton scored.

Knights reliever Prelander Berroa did not have his best stuff, but he did enough to preserve the lead. Overall, despite the two runs that Berroa allowed in 1 ⅔ innings, the bullpen got the job done.

Birmingham Barons 8, Tennessee Smokies 7 (Gameday box)
In one of the season’s more memorable games, the Barons let a large lead slip away in the ninth, but they recovered for a walk-off victory.

Barons starter Tyler Schweitzer was on top of his game. After starting the season with the Dash, Schweitzer made the High-A level look easy, and now is doing the same in Double-A. Tonight, he only allowed one run in seven innings, and even that run was unearned. He struck out five without issuing any walks.

The one run the Smokies scored while Schweitzer was pitching crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first. However, the Barons got that run right back in the bottom half, when Brooks Baldwin went deep.

The score remained 1-1 until the fourth, when the Barons took the lead on another solo homer. This time, it was the red-hot Edgar Quero who launched the blast.

In the fifth, Terrell Tatum and Brooks Baldwin hit back-to-back singles with two outs, and Tatum raced home on a wild pitch to make the score 3-1.

Matt Hogan drew a one-out walk in the seventh, and after he stole second, he scored on a single by Jacob Gonzalez. Birmingham’s situation got even better when Baldwin stepped up to the plate with two outs. For the second time Baldwin crushed a homer, and this one put the Barons ahead by five.

The Barons entered the ninth with a 6-1 lead, but reliever Eric Adler had a day that he would like to forget. Adler faced five batters, and all of them reached base safely. When Jake Palisch replaced Adler, the score was 6-3, and the Smokies had the bases loaded with no outs. Then, Haydn McGeary, the first batter Palisch faced, launched a grand slam to turn the game around.

The first two Barons who batted in the ninth were retired, and it appeared that Birmingham, spirit broken, would go down quietly. However, that did not happen. Baldwin doubled to build on his massive evening, and that extended the game for Tim Elko. Elko worked a full count, and on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, he won the battle.

What a finish. Congratulations to Elko and the Barons for this hard-fought victory.

Rome Braves 4, Winston-Salem Dash 2 (11 innings) (Gameday box)
The Dash pitching staff did its job, but in the long run the Dash lost a close game, in extra innings.

Tanner McDougal started for the Dash, and he only allowed one run in five innings, striking out seven. Surprisingly, McDougal left the game in line for the loss, as the Dash got off to a slow start offensively. Finally, the Dash got on the board in the sixth, when Shawn Goosenberg singled, advanced to second on a balk, and scored on a single by Ryan Galanie.

Dash relievers José Ramírez and Jared Kelley were terrific, as Ramírez delivered a scoreless sixth frame, and Kelley struck out three over three shutout innings. Zach Franklin took over for Kelley in the top of the 10th, and he allowed the free runner to score but nobody else. The Dash had the same result in the bottom half, as DJ Gladney singled to put runners on the corners, and Goosenberg grounded into a double play that scored the tying run.

Finally, the Braves broke through in the 11th. With two on and two outs, Stephen Paolini doubled to drive in a pair, and the Braves led from that point forward. The Dash went down without scoring in the bottom half.

Columbia Fireflies 7, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2 (Gameday box)
It was a rough day for the Cannon Ballers, who fell behind early on and could not catch up.

The Fireflies came out ready to swing the bat, and they hit the ball early and often against Cannon Ballers starter Jake Peppers. Three singles, a walk, and a double resulted in Columbia scoring four in the top of the first.

Columbia added one more in the second and another in the third, so by the time Kannapolis batted for the third time, it was down, 6-0. The Cannon Ballers got on the board that inning, when Rikuu Nishida singled and stole his 27nd base of the season. After a pair of productive outs, Nishida scored. Nishida also started a two-out rally in the fifth with a bunt single. Arxy Hernández singled, and Caden Connor walked to load the bases. Ronny Hernández also walked to force in a run and reduce the deficit to four. However, that was as close as the Cannon Ballers got, as they were kept off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.