Charlotte Knights 12, Syracuse Mets 6 (Statcast box)
Running a score up to 11-0 by mid-game can cure what ails ya, so perhaps the week ahead will be a dandy one for the Knights (53-58). Let’s ignore the overall shaky pitching (six runs are still six runs, even in a win, after all), and focus solely on the hitting that buried Syracuse deep.
Best WPA Chart Ever. Baseball Savant
The top of the order was just devastating for Charlotte tonight, as the No. 1-5 hitters combined to go 14-for-27 with an astounding 15 hard hits. That’s boffo, for sure. Tim Elko and and Dominic Fletcher led the way with three hits and four hard hits apiece, while Korey Lee went three and three. At the top of the order, Vinny Capra went 2-for-3 with three walks to set the table nicely for the big bats.
Knights MVP
Dominic Fletcher (CF): 3-for-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 4 hard hits, 14.0% WPA
Other Notables
Tim Elko (DH): 3-for-6, R, RBI, 2 2B, thrown out at home, 4 hard hits, 11.7% WPA
Vinny Capra (2B): 2-for-3, 3 R, 3 BB
Korey Lee (C): 3-for-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 K, 3 hard hits
Will Robertson (RF): 3-for-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, K, 3 hard hits
Jacob Gonzalez (SS): 2-for-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Knights Cold Cat
Caden Connor (1B): 1-for-5, 3 K, CS
Others Chilled
Evan McKendry (RHRP): 3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R/2 ER, WP, WIN (4-8)
Dru Baker (LF): 1-for-5, RBI, 4 K
Chattanooga Lookouts 9, Birmingham Barons 3
Don’t look it up, but folk knowledge will tell you that this was the first Barons (65-41) blowout loss in roughly three months. Seriously, even the rare losses over the past six weeks or so are tight contests. So we can forgive Bham letting its hair down in this runaway loss, it’s been so very long.
This game bore a lot of resemblance to Charlotte’s game — save for the complete reversal of fortunes. Chatty broke out to a 9-0 lead, mostly at the expense of starter Riley Gowens and middle reliever Eric Adler. Down by that much, there was little for Birmingham to do but pack up the cats and get ready for the quick turnaround and Sunday afternoon’s finale.
Barons MVP
Jared Kelley (RHRP): 2 IP, H, 2 K, 15-of-19 strikes
Other Notables
Adisyn Coffey (RHRP): 2 IP, H, 13-of-18 strikes
Rikuu Nishida (LF): 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI, 2B, K
Mario Camilletti (DH): 2-for-3, BB, R
Jason Matthews (3B): 1-for-3, R, BB, 2 K
Ryan Galanie (1B): 1-for-2
Calvin Harris (C): 1-for-2, K
Barons Cold Cat
Riley Gowens (RHSP): 1 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, LOSS (7-5)
Others Chilled
Eric Adler (RHRP): 1 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, K, HR, WP
Tommy Vail (LHRP): 1 2/3 IP, ER, 2 BB, K, HB, 13-of-29 strikes
William Bergolla (SS): o-for-4, BB
Sam Antonacci (SS): 0-for-5, 2 K
Wilfred Veras: 0-for-4, 2 K
Bowling Green Hot Rods 7, Winston-Salem Dash 1
In a scene reminiscent of a typical line of for the first-half parent club, tonight’s Dash (41-63) sported no one in the lineup batting better than .234 and four players worse than .190. And in this game the pitching was just as bad, as Winston-Salem took a cue from Birmingham tonight and did it one better, falling behind, 6-0, in the first. Taking another look at those batting averages in the lineup and, GAME OVER.
Dash MVP
Luke Bell (RHRP): 3 IP, BB, 6 K
Other Notables
Jeral Perez (2B): 2-for-3, BB, thrown out at home
Ryan Burrowes (LF): 2-for-4, 2B, K
Lyle Miller-Green (1B): 2-for-4, R, 2B, 2 K
Carson Jacobs (RHRP): 2 IP, 3 K, HB, 14-of-19 strikes
Joseph Yabbour (RHRP): IP, H, BB, 2 K
Dash Cold Cat
Gage Ziehl (RHSP): IP, 6 H, 6 R/5 ER, 3 K, HB, LOSS (1-2)
Others Chilled
Alec Makarewicz (DH): 0-for-4, K
Jacob Burke (CF): 1-for-5, 2B, K, E
Drake Logan (RF): 0-for-4, 2 K
Kyle Lodise (SS): 0-for-3, HBP, K
Madison Jeffrey (RHRP): IP, 2 H, ER, K
Salem Red Sox 6, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4
The Cannon Ballers (52-55) also got down early, but at least rallied to make this the sole close game of tonight’s play. Trailing 5-1 through three, the CBs, slapped back in the top of the fourth thanks to the classic balk-single combination, and crawled to within a run two frames later courtesy of an Adrian Gil double. Alas, three errors (including two by PITCHER Gabriel Rodriguez, c’mon GR) and continued unclutch batting (2-for-13 with RISP, c’mon bats) stopped momentum dead.
Notable, and cool: The first run of the game, giving Kanny a 1-0 lead, came on a double-steal of second and home by George Wolkow (second base, his 24th) and Caleb Bonemer (home, his 25th).
Ballers MVP
Nathan Archer (LF): 2-for-3, R, BB, K
Other Notables
George Wolkow (CF): 1-for-3, R, BB, 2 K, 2 SB
Arxy Hernández (DH): 1-for-3, R, BB, K
Ely Brown (RF): 0-for-2, HBP, BB, assist at 2B
Ballers Cold Cat
Ricardo Brizuela (RHSP): 3 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, HR, LOSS (0-9)
Others Chilled
Colby Shelton (SS): 0-for-5, K, E
Anthony DiPino (1B): 0-for-4, 2 K
Jordan Sprinkle (2B): 0-for-3, BB