A spate of short games, and some battered affiliate pitching staffs
Louisville Redbirds 8, Charlotte Knights 4 (opener) (7 innings) (Statcast box)
The originally-scheduled game, shortened to seven innings, opened up the twinbill, and starter Justin Dunn got jumped … or, better said, his control slipped and slid away, with just half of his pitches hitting the strike zone en route to four walks, and hit batsman and six earned in just two innings. With head starts like that, how could the Knights offense catch up, down 7-0 after three? Ironically, Nick Nastrini finished out the rout with work in the fifth through seventh, and was Charlotte’s best pitcher. Gage Workman played third and was on base twice in three trips to the plate in his rehab assignment, Korey Lee 2-for-4 but allowing 3-for-4 stolen bases behind the plate in his rehab work.
Charlotte Knights 3, Louisville Redbirds 2 (nightcap, makeup of May 8 game) (7 innings) (Statcast box)
The Knights wreaked revenge in the nightcap, a makeup of Thursday’s rainout. The pitching news was better, as new acquisition Evan McKendry made his Charlotte debut after coming over in trade from the Brewers and started the game off with two scoreless. Wikelman González vultured the win with two scoreless of his own, staying perfect through six Triple-A innings and running his record to 2-0. For the bats, Mike Tauchman got on base twice in his rehab start while Corey Julks homered for the big excitement of the game.
Charlotte’s split sits it at 18-20.
Birmingham Barons 4, Columbus Clingstones 1 (7 innings)
Bham slows its losing ways thanks to stellar pitching (13 Ks in just seven innings): Hagen Smith threw for two, Drew Dalquist vultured the win with two sweet frames, Peyton Pallette worked his magic for one and only Zach Franklin got touched for a run. With the wood, it was the incendiary Ryan Galanie doing the most damage, clubbing a homer and double.
Ryan Galanie hit a 2-run home run, and the Barons go on to get the 4-1 win over the Clingstones.
Galanie has raised his average to .359 on the season.#bhambarons pic.twitter.com/DxE14uDSlw
— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) May 11, 2025
And just like that, the Barons are 15-16.
Bowling Green Hot Rods 7, Winston-Salem Dash 0
Hmm, another Dash loss, and worse, another bad Dash loss. Lucas Gordon packed his usual sharpness in this start (a High-A second-best 17 swings-and-misses on Saturday) but did allow two earned over five. It was reliever Madison Jeffrey (one inning, four earned) who wore it for W-S. The hitters? Two hits (both by Cole McConnell), two walks, 10 Ks, the rest best left unsaid. Winston-Salem falls to 10 worse than .500, at 11-21.
Carolina Mudcats 16, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2
Gulp, Kanny usually packs enough bats to keep up with anything the pitching staff gives up, but not so here, as the CBs fell behind 8-0 through three. Luis Reyes and Jonathan Clark wore it for Kannapolis, although Aric McAtee came in late and handed the Mudcats another five runs in the eighth, that after Pierce George coughed up three while getting just one out. Mikey Kane had to bail out the staff, finishing up the game with 1 1⁄3 scoreless innings.
ACL Guardians 9, ACL White Sox 7 (7 innings)
The Complex Sox jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Cleveland even got up to bat … and lost the game. The J & J arms, Jordany Chirinos and Jommy Hernandez both wore a four-earned each, only Chirinos’ came over two frames as the starter, Hernandez over two outs out of the pen. The offense, obviously, produced a solid game — just not solid enough. Colson Montgomery’s Developmental List stint took another hit, as he went 0-for-3 with a walk, run, steal and strikeout, and his ACL time (.176 average, .439 OPS) is actually a step back from his work in Charlotte in 2025.