The starters dominated a split day, highlighted by greatness from Shane Murphy in Birmingham
Gwinnett Stripers 7, Charlotte Knights 6 (Statcast Box)
The good news in Charlotte’s game came from the Knights leading, 6-0, through four. The bad? Charlotte’s middle relief caved into a 7-6 deficit, and the busty bats that started the game faltered late. Jesse Scholtens made his first Triple-A start after beginning his rehab with two outings in Winston-Salem, and with just two earned over 4 ⅔ innings, he again acquitted himself OK. And those two runs were not scored with Scholtens pitching but Caleb Freeman, who had a wild outing that kick-started Gwinnett’s comeback. Freeman and Keone Kela, in fact, conspired to hand over this game to the packed (Ronald Acuña Jr., Jared Kelenic) Stripers lineup. The ex-Sox did all the damage with the bats, including both the rehabbing (Austin Slater and Korey Lee … uh, he’s ready, White Sox, what’s the deal here?) and demoted (Corey Julks, Triple-A superstar).
DOM SAYS SO LONG!!
Dominic Fletcher’s 2-run HR gives the Knights a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning! pic.twitter.com/tM72PpGH6y
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) May 16, 2025
The Knights, flirting with .500, fall back to 21-22.
Birmingham Barons 4, Chattanooga Lookouts 2
Don’t look now, but the first-place Barons are on a bit of a roll, pushing their record to 19-16 with this pitching gem in Alabama. This win was mostly, if not all, Shane Murphy, proving the increasingly-accurate adage that once a pitcher fastens on the Barons-B ballcap, he puts a little extra on his stuff. Tonight the southpaw tossed six scoreless innings of four-hit, five-K ball, good enough for his second win. Among a balanced bats attack Ryan Galanie once again stood out, with two doubles.
Brooklyn Cyclones 6, Winston-Salem Dash 0
It’s been a tough year for the Dash, and today was no different. And the hard-luck season of Lucas (José Quintana) Gordon continues as well, as Dash batters put their bats in the freezer for the southpaw’s starts; a 1-4 record against a 2.72 ERA indicates such. When your Ks (nine) outnumber hits + walks (seven), you don’t win many games. Proving the formula is Winston-Salem’s White Sox-esque 12-25 record.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5, Hickory Crawdads 2
We end on a happy note, and another terrific starting performance: Justin Sinibaldi fought the traffic of seven hits and a walk over five innings with an uppercut of eight Ks to earn his second win of the season. In fact, it was the Kanny arms that delivered this win, with great bullpen backup from Jack Young and Carlton Perkins.