White Sox Minor League Update: May 1, 2019

Charlotte Knights 10, Gwinnett Stripers 7

Danny Mendick: 3-for-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K (.245 BA, .784 OPS) **MVP**
Daniel Palka: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K (.231 BA, .836 OPS)
Joel Booker: 2-for-4, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K (.188 BA, .485 OPS)
Donny Roach: 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (10.25 ERA, 2.05 WHIP)
Juan Minaya: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (5.51 ERA, 1.59 WHIP)
Caleb Frare: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (3.72 ERA, 1.55 WHIP)

For the late morning game today, the Charlotte Knights wore Charlotte 49ers-colored hats to “show support and pay tribute to the victims of Tuesday’s tragedy at UNC Charlotte.” This from the New York Times: “Two people were killed and four others injured on Tuesday when a man opened fire with a handgun at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte ... The six people who were killed or wounded were all students at the university, officials confirmed on Wednesday. The two who were killed were Ellis R. Parlier, 19, of Midland, N.C., and Riley C. Howell, 21, of Waynesville, N.C.” This from USA Today: Howell “confronted the gunman in a classroom building during the attack and ‘saved lives.’” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said at a press conference Wednesday. It was the last day of classes.

As for the game, it did not start off well for Donn Roach and the Knights. Roach was unable to get out of the third inning, and left with four runs allowed. He allowed two homers in the third — but the Stripers were not done. José Nin, who was promoted all the way up from Winston-Salem yesterday, allowed the third homer of the inning, a solo shot. But everything got better for the Knights from there.

In the next half-inning the Knights scored three runs, in a more conventional manner, with two RBI singles and a sac fly. As the scoring went on, the Knights did join the power onslaught. Charlotte took the lead in the game in the sixth inning with a five runs with three runs. Daniel Palka opened up the power surge with his second home run in Triple-A. Alfredo Gonzalez added the biggest one, a three-run homer, his first of the year. Finally, Danny Mendick hit his fifth of the year to end the game on a 10-7 note. In total, eight home runs were hit in the game.

Chattanooga Lookouts 5, Birmingham Barons 0

Luis Robert: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K (.000 BA, .250 OPS)
Luis Basabe: 1-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K (.167 BA, .398 OPS)
Luis Gonzalez: 2-for-3, 1 BB, 0 K (.231 BA, .649 OPS)
Gavin Sheets: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K (.200 BA, .566 OPS)
Blake Rutherford: 1-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K (.160 BA, .456 OPS)
Laz Rivera: 0-for-2, 1 BB, 1 K (.190 BA, .471 OPS)
Kyle Kubat: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (0.00 ERA, .714 WHIP) **MVP**

With all the promotions to Double-A in the past days of players like Luis Basabe, Luis Robert, and Zack Burdi, the guy that stood out the most tonight was Kyle Kubat. In a game that did not produce much offense whatsoever, Kubat did his job to keep the Barons in the game. When he started the game it was 0-0, when he left after seven innings pitched, there score was still knotted at zero.

In seven innings, Kubat struck out seven and allowed only five baserunners in his first Double-A start. Of the five hits he allowed, only one was an extra-base hit, a double. To add to his dominance on the pitching side, Kubat and Yermin Mercedes caught two runners stealing second base. It was a good all-around performance for Kubat — the offense and bullpen just did not help him. By the time Kubat left the game, the Barons only had four hits and they were all singles. In the inning after Kubat was pulled, the bullpen proceeded to allow five runs and that was the game. The Barons did not add another baserunner in the last two innings, as they fell, 5-0.

Potomac Nationals 18, Winston-Salem Dash, 4

Steele Walker: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K (.222 BA, .744 OPS) **MVP**
Tate Blackman: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K (.169 BA, .622 OPS)
Cristian Castillo: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (6.08 ERA, 1.73 WHIP)

This, well, didn’t go well for the Dash, as you can tell. The Dash used four pitchers in this one, and each of them saw at least three runs cross the plate (Will Kincanon’s were all unearned). Every single Nationals hitter reached base, and eight of the nine reached more than once. Also, eight of the nine batters were involved in multiple run-scoring situations. In other words, Dash pitching was not good, at all. Even worse was a defense that committed four errors, leading to five unearned runs.

The offense, though it did not keep chase, was all right, with 14 total runners on base. Steele Walker had the biggest hit of the day for the Dash, as you can see above it nearly left the park. It was an RBI double in the fifth inning that got W-S within two runs. Walker would add another RBI in the game, but this time his RBI made it a 15-run game ... just a little bit different.

Charelston RiverDogs 5, Kannapolis Intimidators 1

Lenyn Sosa: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 0 K (.177 BA, .437 OPS)
Romy Gonzalez: 1-for-4, 0 BB, 1 K (.444 BA, 1.111 OPS)
Bryce Bush: 2-for-4, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K (.226 BA, .648 OPS)
Corey Zangari: 2-for-4, 0 BB, 2 K (.375 BA, .944 OPS)
Luis Curbelo: 0-for-2, 1 BB, 1 K (.204 BA, .597 OPS)
Gunnar Troutwine: 0-for-3, 0 BB, 0 K (.286 BA, .863 OPS)
Konnor Pilkington: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (1.98 ERA, 0.77 WHIP). **MVP**

The I’s were able to get out to a quick lead in the second inning, though it was an uneventful run: Gunnar Troutwine grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and nobody out. Bryce Bush came around to score, but of course, nobody was tabbed with an RBI. However, that was the only run for the I’s today.

Konnor Pilkington was good in his five innings. He threw 92 pitches, so he was not able to have quick at-bats, but he kept the I’s in the game with just one run allowed. Where the game got off the rails was when a Luis Curbelo fielding error led a a three-run sixth inning. The damage was done and the game was basically lost at that point, but the RiverDogs did tack one last run on in the ninth for the 5-1 loss.