A sorta terrible night for the system, but hey, the Complex Sox had a 10-run inning!
Durham Bulls 3, Charlotte Knights 1 (Statcast Box)
We begin what was mostly a heartbreaking day on the farm with an utterly inept offensive effort from the Knights (three singles, four walks and two hard hits), nothing cashed in on the few runners placed in scoring position, and against all odds a good pitching performance rendered a waste. That’s it. Let’s move on from the 32-36 Knights.
Montgomery Biscuits 7, Birmingham Barons 5
Now, in Montgomery, we at least were treated to some drama. The Biscuits rose early, taking a 1-0 lead in the fourth before the Barons turned the tables with three in the fifth, to which Montgomery responded with a tally in the bottom half. Halfway through the game, the score stood 3-3. Birmingham put two more up before Montgomery stopped fooling around and put the Barons down with a final flurry. Tyler Davis and Garrett Schoenle were the key culprits in the collapse. But optional glovework was a subplot, as Montgomery had five fumbles and the Barons tallied two. And the bats? Thirteen strikeouts and 3-of-15 with RISP. How did Birmingham (32-29) only lose by two?
Bowling Green Hot Rods 9, Winston-Salem Dash 5
Unlike the Birmingham collapse late, the Dash reversed the plot with the same ending. Down 8-1 entering the final third of the game in front of an ever-fussier home crowd swollen to 8,568 on an 83° day in Winston-Salem, the Dash tightened their belts and fought back into it. But when the starting line is a seven-run deficit, scoring in each of the final three frames earns a consolation prize, not a win. Winston-Salem falls to 23-39 and will most assuredly be the first affiliate with 40 losses on the season.
Columbia Fireflies 5, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4 (Opener) (7 innings)
Columbia Fireflies 3, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2 (Nightcap) (7 innings)
It was a double-dip heartbreaker in South Carolina for the Cannon Ballers, because after all how often, at any point in the season, do you watch helplessly as a team draws even and passes you in a single day? That rare phenomenon occurred in Columbia today, as the Fireflies started the day trailing the CBs by a game but now sit 33-29 to Kanny’s 32-30.
ACL White Sox 15, ACL Padres 5 (7 innings)
The Complex Sox, courtesy of the ultra-rare 10-spot in the top of the seventh in a seven-inning game, crushed their friends in Peoria on Saturday. There was a preponderance of station-to-station singles ball, as the White Sox tallied just five extra-base hits. But the boys cashed in on six walks and 5-of-6 on steal attempts helped as well.
Let’s not skimp on that 10-spot, either, as we herald the standouts of that frame. First off, thanks to Pads pitcher Yovannki Pascual for his three wild pitches in the inning, two of them run-scoring. But as for the Complex Sox heroes in the seventh, they number Marcelo Alcala (triple, run, HBP), Grant Smith (two singles, two runs, RBI), Adrian Gil (two doubles, four RBIs, R), Arnold Prado (BB, single, run). On the other hand, Jurdrick Profar (strikeout, fly out) made two outs in the inning and had to buy everyone dinner for ending all the fun (or, given 98° and sun for a 2 p.m. game in the desert, perhaps Jurdrick was the first one in the ice cream line postgame for getting dehydration of a seven-inning game that stretched more than three hours over with).