Tyler Danish pitched a gem on an important day for him, while two Nicks continue to hit the world…
Columbus 5, Charlotte 4
Chris Volstad put the Knights in a good position to win, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Volstad pitched 6 innings of 2-run ball, and while his peripherals haven’t been great, he did lower his season ERA to 2.51. Blake Smith allowed a run in 2 innings, but recently-promoted Brad Goldberg hit the first batter he faced in the 9th, then gave up a triple and a single for the loss.
Tim Anderson had his third multi-hit game among the last four, with a pair of base hits. J.B. Shuck and Danny Hayes doubled, and the Charlotte lineup struck out 10 times. With Carlos Sanchez now in Chicago and Jason Coats still on the DL (both stays should be brief), the Knights offense as a whole looks pretty lackluster.
Charlotte has not yet announced a starter for tonight’s game.
Birmingham 4, Pensacola 0
Danish was fantastic in throwing a complete game, 9-inning shutout. The cross-firing right-hander allowed just three hits and two walks, whiffing six. Adding to the significance, this was the birthday of his father, who has since passed away. You can read his words on that topic here. After being hit hard in his first start of 2016, Danish’s outings have steadily gotten better each time out.
Nick Delmonico hit his 4th home run in his last 4 games – he hit a total of 4 all of last season. Delmonico has been torching Southern League pitching all month, shown in his .364/.407/.745 line in April. Josh Richmond also went deep as part of a 2-for-3 day.
Carson Fulmer returns to the mound for the Barons tonight, hoping to emulate Danish’s continued improvement.
Winston-Salem 4, Lynchburg 1
Spencer Adams rebounded nicely from struggles in his last outing, hurling six frames and allowing just one run. He also uncharacterstically only struck out one batter, but did get 10 ground ball outs.
In a surprise to no one, Nick Basto led the offensive charge for the Dash, this time with another home run, a double and a base knock. Basto is hitting .432 on the season and either leads or nearly leads the Carolina League in seemingly every offensive category. It would be a surprise if he wasn’t promoted to AA in the near future. Toby Thomas also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-4 with a double.
Matt Cooper gets the call to start tonight for the Dash.
Augusta 3, Kannapolis 2
Corey Zangari hit his 5th home run, a blast that local reporter David Lee said was one of the hardest-hit he’d ever seen. Zangari leads the White Sox farm in home runs, but the 18-year old is clearly still raw, showing in his 41 strikeouts in 97 plate appearances. The other Killer Z, Seby Zavala, had a pair of hits in four trips to the plate. Zavala’s first 4 games in A-ball were a mess at the plate: 0-for-16, 1 BB, 11 K. Since then, it’s a very different story: .333/.412/.444, 5 BB, 7 K in 52 PA. That’s close to what we saw from him in the AZL.
Starter Luis Martinez gave up only one run, but also lasted only three innings, having reached 75 pitches. Efficiency has been an issue for Martinez, who’s numbers thus far look decent in a vacuum, but the high pitch counts could indicate his command still has a ways to go. Jaider Rocha gave up the other two runs in his two innings, but only one run was earned.
Ryan Riga will be on the bump tonight for the Intimidators.
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