Not a lot of offense beyond Charlotte, but Grant Umberger and Tommy Vail had excellent starts
Charlotte Knights 5, Buffalo Bisons 3 (Statcast Box)
All the scoring in this one came bunched early, including back-to-back jacks from Tim Elko and Kyle Teel to tie the game up, 2-2, in the second —
TIM ELKO SAYS GET OUTTA’ HERE!! pic.twitter.com/eqK8n7aIwl
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) May 30, 2025
KYLE TEEL MAKES IT BACK-TO-BACK JACKS!!
Knights tie up the game 2-2 in the 2nd inning! pic.twitter.com/sMEmGxkVnl
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) May 30, 2025
until the very end, when Charlotte (26-29) decided to up and win this game, way up Buffalo way.
With the game deadlocked, 3-3, for a full five innings, Bryan Ramos led off the ninth with a single. Ramos then waited for Brooks Baldwin, with two down, to take his hero turn — a single for the eventual game-winning RBI:
BROOKS BALDWIN FOR THE LEAD!
Knights jump on top 4-3 in the top of the 9th! pic.twitter.com/CSyMkuSlUT
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) May 31, 2025
Jacob Amaya added to Buffalo’s distress with a run-scoring single. Caleb Freeman came on in the ninth to earn the save, although not without (two walks) a bit of drama.
Of note, Colson Montgomery took a pitch directly off of his knee in the third inning and was removed from the game:
Colson Montgomery got hit in the kneecap, and has been removed from the #Knights game. pic.twitter.com/eN9KQjmEod
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) May 30, 2025
Knoxville Smokies 8, Birmingham Barons 7
It was a hard-fought, but ultimately brutal game for the Barons (26-21), who saw the Smokies rally to tie the game three times, in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings. Then, with the game tied, 7-7, Knoxville walked off the visitors thanks to an Ethan Hearn single. Shame, that, as Tommy Vail’s Double-A debut was wasted — and what a debut it was, the longest (5 1⁄3 innings) and arguably best effort of 2025 for the southpaw. Eric Adler was the goat of this game, and there’s no two bits about it, it’s been a brutal year so far for a closer starting the season as arguably the short man who had the best shot to make the majors among the young arms.
Hub City Spartanburgers 12, Winston-Salem Dash 2
Hey, let’s credit the Dash (17-32) for at least emulating the .333-ish winning percentage of the parent club White Sox. This was a good, old-fashioned mauling, although to be fair up until the eighth inning the score was just 7-2. Starter Jake Bockenstedt missed a lot of bats (a High-A second-best 17 on Friday) but when he didn’t miss, oof, the ball go far.
Injury note: Aric McAtee left in-game, during his appearance, after an injury delay in the box score. Seems less than ideal.
PPP note: Catcher Weston Eberly entered the bottom of the eighth with the bases full and two outs, and escaped:
Weston Eberly -> 2 Way Player. 1 pitch -> 1 out. 0.00 ERA. #Dash pic.twitter.com/8A3742OCOB
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) May 31, 2025
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2, Charleston RiverDogs 1
What an amazing find Grant Umberger has been so far: He’s now three starts into his pro career, and he just keeps getting better. Tonight he needed just 76 pitches to navigate seven innings, giving up just one run on five hits. Wow! There weren’t many hitting heroes trotted out in Charleston tonight, but when you’re as good as Umberger was, you don’t need ’em.
ACL White Sox 4, ACL Diamondbacks 1
Box score inaccessible, will write up Saturday a.m.