The Knights and the Voyagers are surging while the Barons are going the opposite direction.
Charlotte 12, Durham 7
Starter Terance Marin allowed one run over seven innings and the Knights offense pounded out eighteen hits to rout the Durham Bulls and maintain their division lead. Every member of the Charlotte lineup recorded at least one hit and Jerry Sands and Nicky Delmonico led the way with three hits each. Leury Garcia blasted a grand slam in the 2nd inning and had a career high six RBI’s in the win. Shortstop Eddy Alvarez has carried over his hot hitting in Birmingham to Charlotte and he went 2-3 with two doubles and a walk and is now hitting a cool .400 over his first four games in AAA. Rehabbing catcher Alex Avila went 2-3 and appears ready to rejoin the big league club.
The Knights will head to Norfolk after sweeping Durham and are riding a five game winning streak. Kameron Loe will get the opening game start.
Montgomery 1, Birmingham 0
James Dykstra allowed only one run over seven strong innings, but was the tough luck loser as the Barons offense couldn’t muster a run. The lineup had four hits and center fielder Hunter Jones hit a double for the only extra base hit.
The Barons have lost 11 games in a row and 14 of their last 15. Birmingham will turn to Thad Lowry to play stopper as he gets the start in the finale of the series with Montgomery.
Frederick 12, Winston-Salem 7
The Dash blasted three home runs and held onto a 7-5 lead entering the 8th inning, but the game got away from reliever Taylore Cherry. Cherry allowed five runs while just managing to record one out.
Third baseman Gerson Montilla had himself a night as he went 3-4 with a three-run home run and a double. Michael Suiter matched Montilla by going 3-4 as well, though his home run was the solo variety.
Zach Thompson gets the start as the Dash host the Carolina Mudcats on Friday.
Rome 2, Kannapolis 1 (10 innings)
Kannapolis starter Brannon Easterling pitched extremely well but received a Quintana (an undeserved no-decision), and a couple late errors doomed the Intimidators. Easterling pitched six shutout innings, allowed two hits, and did not issue a walk. 2016 21st round draft pick Michael Horejsei came in for Easterling and struck out three batters over two scoreless innings. Horejsei did not allow a run over 12.2 innings with Great Falls and now has a 1.29 ERA over 21 innings with Kannapolis. Jack Charleston (aka the Slim Reaper) struck out five batters overs two innings, but did allow an unearned run. Charleston has been very strong recently, posting a 0.84 ERA over his last 21.1 innings.
The Kanny offense had nine hits, but went 1-for-13 with RISP. Third baseman Zach Remillard went 2-4 with a double and Alex Call went 1-5 with a double.
Alec Hansen‘s reign of terror over the Pioneer League is finally over as the 2016 2nd round pick will make his Kannapolis debut on Friday.
Great Falls 8, Helena 5
Due to a weird scheduling glitch, Great Falls has an eight game series with the Helena Brewers and the Voyagers have gotten the better of them, winning six of the seven games played thus far. Yosmer Solorzano struggled a bit in his first game since throwing seven no-hit innings on Saturday. The 19 year-old allowed five runs (four earned) over six innings and struck out six. Luckily for Solorzano, the Voyager bats backed him and bashed fourteen hits and eight runs. Outfielder Jackson Glines went 2-3 with a home run and Frank Califano tripled. 19 year-old toolsy catcher Carlos Perez went 2-4 and Aaron Schnurbusch reached base three times by going 1-2 with two walks and aadded a stolen base.
Luis Ledo will make his Great Falls debut on Friday after posting a 1.19 ERA with the AZL Sox over 45.1 innings.
AZL Reds 9, AZL White Sox 3
The AZL Reds poured it on against the White Sox bullpen and ran away with the game on Thursday night. Starter Brandon Agar pitched well over four innings, striking out five and allowing two runs and no walks.
1B/OF Franklin Reyes went 1-4 with a double and improved his batting average to .170 on the season. Why is this notable? The White Sox signed Reyes for 1.5 million during the 2015 July 2nd signing period and he is just 17 years old. Reyes was listed as 6’3” and 235 pounds by Baseball America at the time of the signing, but he is now listed as 6’4” and 205 pounds by the White Sox. Either way, he is a massive human being and is one to watch as he matures. Felix Mercedes, another July 2nd signee, went 2-3 with two doubles and a walk to pace the AZL offense.
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