Charlotte 13, Indianapolis 1
The Knights rolled the Indianapolis Indians in a match-up of teams with the best records in the International League. Starter Erik Johnson was brilliant, throwing eight scoreless innings and only allowing four hits while walking none and striking out nine. Johnson has been nothing short of dominate recently, his last three starts he has thrown 22 scoreless innings, striking out 28 and only allowing 10 hits and 4 walks. The offense quickly turned this game into a rout by scoring six runs in the 1st inning and kept pouring it on. Not one, not two, but THREE Knights had two home runs as Matt Davidson (4-5, 2 HR’s, 3 RBI’s), Micah Johnson (3-4, 2 HR’s, 2B, 3 RBI’s, BB), and George Kottaras (3-3, 2 HR’s, 6 RBI’s, 2 BB’s) all had monster games. Kottaras, a 32 year-old catcher, has been particularly impressive as his season slash line is now at .340/.500/.642 through 18 games thus far in 2015.
Birmingham 7, Jackson 0
The Barons used a trio of hurlers to four-hit the Jackson Generals and Tim Anderson and Christian Marrero took care of the rest for the easy victory. Starter Tyler Barnette was effectively wild, throwing five innings of scoreless ball while pitching around two hits and five walks. Barnette has a 23/16 K/BB ratio with the Barons which is a bit unsightly, however he has a sparkling 1.40 ERA. Relievers Zach Isler and J.B. Wendelken came on in relief and both threw two scoreless innings to perserve the shutout. Tim Anderson went 3-5 with two doubles and has been on fire recently, hitting .390 over his past ten games and has only struck out five times over that span. Outfielder Christian Marrero went 3-3 with a home run and first baseman Danny Hayes went 2-4 with a solo shot.
Winston-Salem 6, Salem 5
Left-handed pitcher Brian Clark has primarily been working out of the Dash bullpen, but he made a strong case to be a starter Sunday as he baffled the Salem Red Sox lineup through five scoreless innings. Clark, a 2014 9th round draft pick, only allowed one hit, no walks, and struck out six and now has a 1.88 ERA over his last ten appearances. Second baseman Jake Peter doubled and tripled and catcher Omar Narvaez and outfielder Toby Thomas both went 2-3 with a walk to give the Dash just enough runs to hold on for the victory. The game concludes the first half of the season for the Carolina League, as now Matt Heidenreich, James Dykstra, and Omar Narvaez will represent the Dash in the All-Star game on Tuesday. Winston-Salem will be back in action for the second half of the season on Thursday.
Kannapolis 10, Greensboro 4
The White Sox 44th overall selection of the 2014 draft Spencer Adams faced off against the 2nd overall pick Tyler Kolek and Adams emerged victorious. Adams pitched five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and no walks while Kolek allowed eight runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks. It is notable that despite all the pitching talent between the two starters, Adams only struck out two batters and Kolek did not register a strikeout. Eddy Alvarez and Hunter Jones both reached base four times and wreaked havoc on the basepaths by stealing a combined four bases.
Helena 9, Great Falls 2
Starter Matt Ball was excellent, tossing six innings of one-run ball while only allowing two hits, no walks, and striking out six. However, Braulio Ortiz and Chris Freudenberg were shelled in their relief appearances as the Helena Brewers surged past the Voyagers late. The Voyagers lineup had 11 hits but were abysmal with runners in scoring position as they could only muster two runs. Outfielders Frank Califano went 4-5 in the leadoff spot and Johan Cruz went 2-5 to lead the offense.
AZL White Sox 3, AZL Dodgers 2 (10 innings)
The AZL White Sox scored a run in the 9th and 10th inning to earn the win over the Dodgers. First baseman Cody Daily doubled and homered and second baseman Bradley Strong went 2-3 with a double. Starter Kevin Escorcia pitched 4.1 innings and only gave up one run and the White Sox bullpen did not allow an earned run the rest of the way.
Want to know right away when we publish a new article? Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. Our list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.