Charlotte 4, Pawtucket 2
The Knights took down the prospect-loaded Pawtucket Red Sox off the back of Kevan Smith‘s mighty bat. The Charlotte catcher went 3-4 with a three run blast in the fourth. Trayce Thompson went 2-4 and Leury Garcia went 1-3 to round out the six hits that the team had. Jason Coats and Micah Johnson both reached base via walks and those two plus Thompson and Garcia each swiped a base.
Starter Shawn Haviland (2-4, 5.11) went six scoreless innings of three hit ball and struck out eight. Blake Smith gave up the only runs that the Red Sox scored in his 0.2 innings of work.
Birmingham 2, Tennessee 0
In what White Sox fans would like to see as a preview of years to come, Frankie Montas (1-1, 2.50) threw a no-hitter against a lineup featuring Albert Almora, Kyle Schwarber and Dan Vogelbach. Montas went all seven innings in the doubleheader-shortened game and allowed no hits, three walks, struck out three and he did it all on an economical 77 pitches.
The offense behind the fireballer wasn’t much to write home about – the Barons could only muster five hits more than the Smokies. Christian Marrero, recently joined by his brother Chris Marrero on the team, went 2-3 and was knocked in off a Brian Fletcher two-run homer that provided Montas all he needed. Danny Hayes went 1-2 with a walk.
Tennessee 7, Birmingham 5
In what Cubs fans would like to see as a preview of years to come, Albert Almora and Kyle Schwarber led the way for the Smokies to down the Barons in game two in a game with plenty of offense, beacause, well, how else do you follow up a no-hitter? Starter Tony Bucciferro (0-4, 7.92) gave up five earned and only struck out one batter. Sean Hagan gave up two in relief and Kyle Hansen was given mop-up duties in the last two innings, having a 7-1 deficit to overcome.
Tim Anderson went 1-3 with a walk and RBI, Joey DeMichele went 1-4 and the Marrero brothers had identical statlines of 3-4 (all singles) and an RBI each. Marcus Lemon had the other RBI, coming off of a double after he went 1-2 with a walk.
Winston-Salem 4, Wilmington 3
Robinson Leyer (2-5, 5.02) went the distance in a six-hitter, doubleheader-shortened game against the Blue Rocks. Leyer Went seven innings and only gave up three runs while striking out two and walking a lone batter.
The pitching performance was just enough for the Dash offense to give Leyer the win. The top of the lineup featuring Adam Engel, Jake Peter and Trey Michalczewski went a combined 5-9 , with Michalczewski having two RBIs. Chris Jacobs and Omar Narvaez each had an RBI, with Jacobs reaching base three times after going 1-1 with two walks. Cleuluis Rondon also hit his third double.
Winston-Salem 2, Wilmington 1
The Dash were able to take both games of the double header, this time fueled by a Chris Jacobs home run and Toby Thomas, who went 1-1, doubling and scoring on a wild pitch. Nolan Earley went 2-3 while Jake Peter and Jeremy Dowdy each went 1-2 with a single and a walk.
Starter Brian Clark struck out five batters over three innings, but reliever Andre Wheeler (2-2, 2.51) got the win after striking out the side in one inning of work. Peter Tago got his second save of the season, pitching two scoreless innings.
Kannapolis 6, Greensboro 4
Spencer Adams took the mound for the Intimidators and had a bit of a rough go, giving up four runs in six innings and only striking out two. He faced Tyler Kolek, who you may recall as the Marlins draft pick right before Carlos Rodon last year. The Intimidators weren’t able to strike until late with Eddy Alvarez going 3-4 with two RBIs and a walk, Alexander Simon went 2-4 with an RBI, Ryan Leonards went 2-4 with an RBI and Christian Stringer went 1-5 with an RBI double.
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