Charlotte Knights 7, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 4 (Statcast Box)
The final score was nowhere near an indication of the blowout that took place in Charlotte on Saturday afternoon, as the Iron-Pigs were held scoreless for the first eight innings of the game while the Knights racked up seven runs. Accolades for nearly all Knights today, but special merit goes to Dominic Fletcher in the leadoff spot driving in the first two runs of the game and allowing the club to not look back:

But really, fueled by 13 hard hits, the lineup piled on a definitely-not-AI IronPiggssss starter named “Nabil Crismatt.” Good for you, Knights, fight venture capital at all turns.

Oh, it’s worth reminding that Lehigh Valley came into the contest with an amazing 43-18 record. Meanwhile, the Knights have crept ever closer to getting back to .500, at 30-32.

P.S. Bryan Ramos has had an awful year, and even this game was a mixed bag (homer, error), but we love him at SSS and he ended the game in about the smoothest-groove way possible:

Poll
Who was the MVP of Charlotte’s rout of the IronPIGZ juggernaut?

Dominic Fletcher: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 3 hard hits, 18.7% WPA

Dru Baker: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 K, 2 hard hits, 8.0% WPA

Brooks Baldwin: 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, 3 hard hits

Adam Hackenberg: 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB, K, 0-for-1 CS

Zach DeLoach: 2-for-4, HR, R, RBI, 2 hard hits, K

Caleb Freeman: 2 IP, BB, K

0%

Dominic Fletcher: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 3 hard hits, 18.7% WPA

(0 votes)

0%

Dru Baker: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 K, 2 hard hits, 8.0% WPA

(0 votes)

0%

Brooks Baldwin: 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, 3 hard hits

(0 votes)

0%

Adam Hackenberg: 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB, K, 0-for-1 CS

(0 votes)

0%

Zach DeLoach: 2-for-4, HR, R, RBI, 2 hard hits, K

(0 votes)

0%

Caleb Freeman: 2 IP, BB, K

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now

Poll
Who was Charlotte’s Cold Cat?

0%

Jacob Amaya: 0-for-3, HBP, 2 GIDP

(0 votes)

0%

Nick Nastrini: 1 2⁄3 IP, 2 H, 4 R/3 ER, 3 BB, K, HR, 25-of-50 strikes

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now

Rocket City Trash Pandas 3, Birmingham Barons 1
Talk about a hard-luck loss for Riley Gowens: The righthander was one out from finishing up a scoreless six-inning start and potentially racking up his sixth win against no losses. However, with two outs in the sixth, Denzel Guzman took Gowens deep with a shot that not only tarnished his outing, but turned a 1-0 Barons lead upside-down.

That’s not to say the main scolding shouldn’t be dealt to the Bham O, which out-hit the Raccoons 7-5 but did almost zero with the advantage: seven left on base, 0-for-6 with RISP. If not for DJ Gladney putting one ball over the fence, the offense would have had nothing to show for Saturday.

Poll
Who gets the Birmingham MVP?

Riley Gowens: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 9 K, HR, LOSS (5-1), 16 swings-and-misses (tied for third-best in Double-A on Saturday)

Grant Taylor: 2⁄3 IP, 2 K, 6-of-8 strikes

Zach Franklin: IP, BB, 2 K

Ryan Galanie: 2-for-4, SB

Shawn Goosenberg: 2-for-4, SB

0%

Riley Gowens: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 9 K, HR, LOSS (5-1), 16 swings-and-misses (tied for third-best in Double-A on Saturday)

(0 votes)

0%

Grant Taylor: 2⁄3 IP, 2 K, 6-of-8 strikes

(0 votes)

0%

Zach Franklin: IP, BB, 2 K

(0 votes)

0%

Ryan Galanie: 2-for-4, SB

(0 votes)

0%

Shawn Goosenberg: 2-for-4, SB

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now

Poll
Who from the flaccid Barons earns the Cold Cat today?

0%

Wilfred Veras: 0-for-4, 3 K

(0 votes)

0%

William Bergolla: 0-for-4

(0 votes)

0%

Garrett Schoenle: 1 1⁄3 IP, 2 H, ER, HR, 10-of-14 strikes

(0 votes)

0%

Jason Matthews: 0-for-3, K

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now

Winston-Salem Dash 8, Asheville Tourists 3 (called after 6 ½ innings, rain)
Somehow, Tourist Lucas Spence (2-for-3, 2B, HR) couldn’t upend the Dash alone, leaving Winston-Salem to cruise to a early, quick (save for a half-hour rain delay) win on the road. And the win was all offense, really, as Lucas Gordon had an off-day and Vince Vannelle inherited his win. Eternally-struggling Samuel Zavala had a monster effort, with two run-scoring hits including a homer. But overall the offense squeezed nine hits (four XBH) and four walks into just seven frames.

Poll
Who takes the MVP in this robust Dash win?

Samuel Zavala: 2-for-3, HR, 4 RBI, 21.2% WPA

Arxy Hernández: 1-for-4, R, RBI, 2B, K, 17.6% WPA

Vince Vannelle: 2 IP, H, K, WIN (1-0)

Sam Antonacci: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB, K

Braden Montgomery: 2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, K, 2B

Cole McConnell: 3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B

0%

Samuel Zavala: 2-for-3, HR, 4 RBI, 21.2% WPA

(0 votes)

0%

Arxy Hernández: 1-for-4, R, RBI, 2B, K, 17.6% WPA

(0 votes)

0%

Vince Vannelle: 2 IP, H, K, WIN (1-0)

(0 votes)

0%

Sam Antonacci: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB, K

(0 votes)

0%

Braden Montgomery: 2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, K, 2B

(0 votes)

0%

Cole McConnell: 3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now

Poll
Who takes the Cold Cat for W-S in their shortened Saturday rout?

0%

Lucas Gordon: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, HR

(0 votes)

0%

Jordan Sprinkle: 0-for-3, K

(0 votes)

0%

Alec Makarewicz: 0-for-3, K

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 0
As can be the case with extremely young pitchers, Luis Reyes has been working things out with an up-and-down season. As you might discern from the final score, today’s effort from the 19-year-old Kanny starter was an enormous UP: seven innings, no runs, four hits, just 84 total pitches. On offense, the CBs put a lot of traffic on the basepaths (nine hits, SEVEN walks) but didn’t cash in too liberally (2-for-12 RISP, 14 LOB). But the good news is that Kannapolis crawls back up to 30-26 with this dominating win.

Poll
It’s gonna be Luis Reyes unless you have an extreme hitting bias, but we still need to run the MVP poll.

Luis Reyes: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 61-of-84 strikes, WIN (3-5), 35.7% WPA

Grant Magill: 2-for-2, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, HBP, 22.3% WPA

Jonathan Clark: 2 IP, H, BB, 3 K, WP, E, SAVE (2)

Lyle Miller-Green: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB

Mikey Kane: 3-for-4, R, BB

Nathan Archer: 0-for-2, 2 BB

0%

Luis Reyes: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 61-of-84 strikes, WIN (3-5), 35.7% WPA

(0 votes)

0%

Grant Magill: 2-for-2, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, HBP, 22.3% WPA

(0 votes)

0%

Jonathan Clark: 2 IP, H, BB, 3 K, WP, E, SAVE (2)

(0 votes)

0%

Lyle Miller-Green: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB

(0 votes)

0%

Mikey Kane: 3-for-4, R, BB

(0 votes)

0%

Nathan Archer: 0-for-2, 2 BB

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now

Poll
Who takes Kanny’s Cold Cat for this game?

0%

Abraham Núñez: 0-for-5, 2 K

(0 votes)

0%

George Wolkow: 1-for-5, 2 K

(0 votes)

0%

Arnold Prado: 0-for-4, R

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now

ACL White Sox 5, ACL Dodgers 1 (7 innings)
The Complex Sox push back to a winning record (13-12) with a win over that also-ran org in Los Angeles. How about that? Fabian Ysalla had the equivalent of an ACL complete game, going five innings with nary a sneeze of trouble. Meanwhile offensive centerpiece Adrian Gil lead a robust attack with the bats, as 10 hits generated five runs in fairly short time.

Poll
Who was the ACL White Sox MVP today?

Fabian Ysalla: 5 IP, 5 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K, WP, WIN (1-0)

Gil Luna: 1 ⅔ IP, 2 K, SAVE (2)

Grant Smith: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI

Adrian Gil: 2-for-3, RBI, BB, K, SB, CS

Albertson Asigen: 2-for-2, R, RBI, 2B, SF

0%

Fabian Ysalla: 5 IP, 5 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K, WP, WIN (1-0)

(0 votes)

0%

Gil Luna: 1 ⅔ IP, 2 K, SAVE (2)

(0 votes)

0%

Grant Smith: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI

(0 votes)

0%

Adrian Gil: 2-for-3, RBI, BB, K, SB, CS

(0 votes)

0%

Albertson Asigen: 2-for-2, R, RBI, 2B, SF

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now

Poll
Who takes the Complex Sox Cold Cat today?

0%

Angelo Hernandez: 0-for-3, 2 K

(0 votes)

0%

Marcelo Alcala: 0-for-3, 2 K

(0 votes)

0%

Yohemy Nolasco: ⅓ IP, H, 2 BB, HOLD (2)

(0 votes)

0 votes total

Vote Now