- Adam Engel had a big night (Image from Winston-Salem Journal)
The Knights struggled to generate offense, squandering a strong start by Junior Guerra. Guerra – whose story and ascension to AAA baseball was covered over at Fangraphs – went 5.2 innings, allowing five hits, one earned run, three walks, while striking out seven batters. For his 2015 season (36.1 IP split between AA and AAA), the 30-year-old Guerra is striking out 12.1 batters per nine and has a 2.23 ERA.
Matt Davidson had a hit in three at bats, walked, and struck out once. While Davidson is striking out at a clip of 31.2%, he does have an OPS of .735 in 157 PAs and an ISO of .171. Trayce Thompson drew a walk, but was hitless in three at bats and struck out twice. Dan Black uncharacteristically went 0-4 with three strikeouts on the night.
Birmingham 10, Mobile 0
Unlike the Knights, the Barons’ offense was prolific. The Barons put up 18 hits, while holding Mobile to just three. After Myles Jaye was scratched from his scheduled start due to a back injury, Tyler Barnette filled in and performed aptly. Barnette went 5.1 innings, allowing just two hits and a walk, striking out three batters.
The Barons’ offense teed off versus a consensus top-40 prospect, Diamondbacks’ RHP Braden Shipley. Shipley allowed seven earned runs and ten hits in 3.2 IP. Tim Anderson saw the ball extremely well, going 3-4 with a with a double and two runs scored. Anderson even drew two walks on the night – matching his season total going into the game. Batting leadoff, Jacob May went three for six and struck out once. He stole two bases, raising his season total to a robust 21 stolen bases. Courtney Hawkins also had a strong night, going three for six with a strikeout, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Adrian Nieto went three for four with a run scored. He hit a three-run home run and had four RBIs on the night.
Winston Salem 12, Salem 1
The Dash’s offense had a huge night, complemented by a great start from Matt Heidenreich. Heidenreich went seven innings, allowing four hits, one earned run, two walks, while striking out six.
Adam Engel delivered some power from the leadoff spot. Engel had four hits in five at bats, a triple, a three-run homer, and three runs scored. For the season in Winston-Salem, Engel has a slash line of .293/.374/.440 (9.9 BB%, 18.6 K%). Trey Michalczewski continued his hot hitting, going three for four with a homer – his fourth of the season – and three RBIs. Jake Peter had a nice night as well, as he reached base twice (a walk and a hit) in three at bats, while scoring two runs. Ethan Wilson and Chris Jacobs each hit two-run home runs.
Kannapolis 10, Asheville 13
The most balanced game of the night featured 23 runs scored, as Kannapolis (16-20) fell to Asheville. Every batter in both Kannapolis’ lineup and Asheville’s lineup had a hit. Asheville scored at least a run in every inning but the eighth, while Kannapolis had five errors on the night.
Yelmison Peralta started for the Intimidators, going just 2.1 innings, allowing seven earned runs and five walks (no strikeouts).
Eddy Alvarez reached three times in six PAs (a hit and two walks). Alvarez drove in two runs out of the two-hole. Louie Lechich had two hits in five PAs with an RBI and a strikeout. 21-year-old first baseman Toby Thomas had a big night – four hits in five ABs with two runs scored and two doubles.
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