A strong start from the 7th ranked White Sox prospect Matthew Thompson wasn’t enough as they fell to the Columbia Firelfies, 8-2 Wednesday evening.
Despite getting in some jams, Thompson looked composed, especially when he gave up two hits and a walk to load the bases in the 2nd inning. The Houston native was able to follow up with a strike out and got the Fireflies’ Maikel Garcia to ground into an inning-ending double play.
With the defense coming up clutch behind their starter, the offensive took its turn in the bottom of the inning. Bryan Ramos led off with a HBP before a DJ Gladney double put them both in scoring position. The double for Gladney comes on the heels of performance last night where he homered and a road trip where he did not record a hit.
Ivan Gonzalez was able to bring home Ramos on a groundout and Benyamin Bailey lined a single to right field to score Gladney from second. Bailey would go on to finish the night with two singles in four trips.
Kannapolis was out front 2-0, capitalizing on early opportunities.
Through three innings, Thompson was able to hold Columbia in check on the scoreboard, but in the 4th, he ran into trouble. Early on, the righty was able to attack the bottom of the zone effectively with his low-90s fastball and nasty curveball. Around this point in the game, he lost that ability to attack low and gave the Fireflies pitches to hit. A double and a single pushed a run across the plate, cutting the Cannon Ballers lead to one.
That slim margin was erased in the 5th as it was apparent that Thompson was laboring. The prospect left two center-cut pitches for the Fireflies to rip for a triple and single, tying the game at 2 runs. A strong start for Thompson ends with him getting a no-decision.
Thompson’s final line looked like this: 4.1 IP, 2 R, 4 K, 2 BB, 8 H on 79 pitches.
RHP Martin Carrasco came in to pitch in relief and he was roughed up early and often. The reliever allowed a run in each of the innings he pitched after the 4th, including the beginning of a 4-run 7th for Columbia.
He would be credited with the loss after giving up 5 runs (3 earned), across 2.1 innings. The former Padres product has had a rough go of things to start the year, walking out of tonight’s appearance with a 10.61 ERA and 16 hits allowed across 9.1 innings.
Remember how it was mentioned that the offensive for Kannapolis capitalized in the early innings? Well, that was the only true production they were able to muster on the night. Following a James Beard single in the 3rd inning, the Cannon Ballers didn’t generate another hit until the 9th inning. Across that span, they were able to draw runners with walks but nothing surmounted from it.
This dry spell from the offense has seen the Cannon Ballers, as a team, slash a dreadful .182/.313/.267 across the team’s first 14 games. The issue hasn’t been getting on base, though, as the team is ranked second in the Low-A East division in walks. The whole ‘scoring runs’ thing is something the team is still working on fixing.
Kannapolis is dead last among the 12 teams in the division with 35 runs scored across 14 games.
One bright spot came in the 9th for Kannapolis when their young pitching prospect, McKinley Moore, came in to pitch. The reliever had a clean frame striking out two while hitting upper-90MPH with ease. The White Sox top-30 prospect will be one to watch this season as he works on his command, which is something he had issues with in the past.
With the loss, Kannapolis falls to 1-13 on the season.
Photo credit: Michael Guariglia/FutureSox
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Thanks for the write-up. Any idea ad to when Chase Krogman may return from his injury? It’s good to see Bailey finally getting some hits after his long slump.