Knights pull off consecutive shutouts and Kannapolis comes from behind to win in extras to split the farm
Charlotte Knights 3, Nashville Sounds 0 (Statcast box)
The Knights (49-50) pulled off back-to-back shutouts against the Sounds (57-41), with waiver claim Yoendrys Gómez leading the charge. Gómez’s 6.62 ERA this year has been far from impressive, but he’s been exceptional lately. He held Nashville to three hits, two walks, and eight punchouts in five innings. Kyle Tyler’s debut with the Knights was also sufficient, limiting the Sounds to a hit and two strikeouts in two frames. It seems like the Knights took SSS’s comments about its weak bullpen to heart and decided to prove us wrong.
Montgomery Biscuits 6, Birmingham Barons 3
Birmingham’s 12-game win streak was halted, unceremoniously. The Barons (55-39) lost to the Biscuits (49-45) simply by not playing well. Rikuu Nishida and Caden Connor accounted for half of Bham’s hits and the lineup stranded eight on base, going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Hagen Smith’s bad luck this month continued as he surrendered three hits and two runs through 3 2⁄3 innings despite eliciting six strikeouts. With two position players shouldering the offense and the bullpen working extensively in the last two weeks, it’s no surprise the Barons fell to the Biscuits.
Aberdeen IronBirds 15, Winston-Salem Dash 12
The Dash (35-57) were handed a brutal loss by the equally-bad IronBirds (37-57). No single pitcher is to blame for Winston-Salem’s gradual collapse, as Christian Oppor, Luke Bell, Jake Peppers, and Madison Jeffrey Peppers shared 11 hits, 14 runs, and 12 walks. Oppor’s four walks and three runs in two-thirds of an inning marks his worst outing all year, but the bullpen mirrored his control issues.
The Dash rallied with two comebacks, but neither were successful. They knocked off five hits, two walks, and six hits in the seventh, but were stopped before they could put a heavier dent in the deficit. Winston-Salem cycled through the entire lineup and doubled its run count in the ninth, but the bullpen’s inability to toss more than two-thirds of a scoreless inning put proved to be a hole too big to dig out from.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 8, Carolina Mudcats 7 (10 innings)
The Cannon Ballers (44-50) edged the Mudcats (54-36) in extras thanks to clutch hitting by George Wolkow and Grant Smith. Down 7-4 entering the ninth, the Ballers had out-hit the Mudcast 9-6 and stranded nine on base. But even when things didn’t seem to go his club’s way, the Downers Grove native smacked his 10th home run of the year to tie the game, ending the night with three hits, two runs, and four RBIs.
With the wind beneath their wings, in extras all Smith had to was hit a single to bring in Caleb Bonemer (who advanced from second to third on a wild pitch) to score the go-ahead run. Joseph Yabbour closed the night out with five strikeouts in two strong innings, carving down his July ERA to 2.25 and WHIP to 1.13.
Even last place Kanny deserves an exciting win every now and then.