Tim Elko serves notice he wants to be back in the bigs — and Shane Murphy says hey yeah, maybe me too
Yes, Tim Elko’s bat lodged an official protest with the White Sox having called up the eminently less worthy Colson Montgomery to the majors, but meanwhile Noah Schultz continues to make the case that he was simply not ready to face Triple-A hitters, even less so in the bandbox of Truist Field.
All in all, a mixed day, and we simply pray that the best starter in the system, Shane Murphy, heads straight to the majors instead of stopping off in Charlotte.
Charlotte Knights 10, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 5 (Statcast box)
Charlotte (42-42) broke out to 6-1 and 9-4 leads early, so this one was never much in doubt. Call this Tim Elko’s HEY WAIT THERE IS AN EXTRA SEAT ON THE PLANE NEXT TO COLSON game, because he went ham on the Shrimp (3-for-4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB) to the tune of this game-breaking grand slam:
Tim Elko is feeling…GRAND! pic.twitter.com/runWBVL7sn
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) July 3, 2025
However again burying the lede, Noah Schultz established himself for a third straight start as eminently unworthy of that open seat next to Colson, in this start lasting four innings but taking 75 pitches, four earned, three walks and two homers to get there. The Mush Top Prospects’ Hearts and Brains at Charlotte paradox lives on in the and despite the absence of Colson.
Birmingham Barons 2, Chattanooga Lookouts 1
Shane Murphy Shane Murphy Shane Murphy Shane Murphy for the love of all that’s holy don’t call the southpaw up to Charlotte, please. Murphy played the buff end of this pitchers’ duel, going EIGHT innings on an ultra-efficient 83 pitches. But as it the Murphy Way, a brilliant starts begets a no-decision, at best. Murph’s ERA gets chiseled down to 1.44, yet his record remains stalled at 6-3.
Bham fell behind, 1-0, in the top of the eighth but tied the contest on a Colby Smelley long ball …
Colby Smelley with the home run, and the game is tied at 1-1 against the Lookouts. pic.twitter.com/3R0WzCss0t
— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) July 4, 2025
…and won it in walk-off fashion: Jacob Gonzalez single, DJ Gladney HBP, Caden Connor single.
Barons win on a walk-off single by Caden Connor as Birmingham wins 2-1 over Chattanooga tonight. pic.twitter.com/Z9A5uwfMv9
— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) July 4, 2025
Hub City Spartanburgers 9, Winston-Salem Dash 7 (10 innings)
This was just a 5-5 game heading into overtime, where things went haywire in the 10th in an explosion of six runs. W-S (29-48) tied the game in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth, as two hit batsmen sandwiched around a single loaded the bases, with a balk and then a Matt Hogan single tying it.
ALL TIED UP IN THE BOTTOM OF 9! pic.twitter.com/CB4PLaIz0H
— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) July 4, 2025
With two outs and runners at first and second, Braden Montgomery could not keep his Captain Clutch rep going, striking out. In the 10th, now down 9-5, the Dash crawled back to 9-7 and sat with the sacks packed and two outs; Sam Antonacci, absolutely the man you want at the plate to push the game to the 11th, grounded to second to end the affair.
Hickory Crawdads 7, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2
The Crawdads were up, 4-0, before the CBs (36-42) managed even to stop hitting the snooze alarm and suit up for the game. By then, pfft, game over. A miserable game was reflective of the downturn Kanny has taken over the past month, with the bulk pitchers falling short and as many runs scored (two) as errors.
ACL Dodgers 7, ACL White Sox 2 (7 innings)
The good news is that the ACL Sox remain in first place. The bad? This one was a laffer in all the wrong ways, with the Doyers scoring in three of their six innings at the plate and efficiently stifling the Complex Sox’s run production (2-for-7 with RISP, seven left on base).