White Sox Minor League Update: June 19, 2019

Charlotte Knights 9, Syracuse Mets 7

Jon Jay: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K (.325 BA, .716 OPS)
Daniel Palka: 2-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (.265 BA, .904 OPS)
Seby Zavala: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K (.246 BA, .786 OPS) **MVP**
Danny Mendick: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 0 K (.270 BA, .787 OPS)
Colton Turner: 5 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 9 K (6.51 ERA, 1.62 WHIP)
Matt Foster: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (3.46 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)

Oh no, another high scoring game in Triple-A, highlighted by a lot of homers ... so rare nowadays. Colton Turner started for the Knights and got rocked. He allowed three home runs over his five innings, and a couple more doubles, for a total of five XBH allowed. Not very good to start, but at least the Charlotte offense kept pace. With the Knights down one in the second, Seby Zavala hit his ninth homer of the year to tie it up. The very next inning, the Knights down one, again, Matt Skole hit a solo home run to tie the game, again. That Skole homer was the first of five straight RBIs coming directly from a homer. Danny Mendick hit a home run during that span, but the Knights still were down 7-4 going into the seventh. That didn’t last long. They were able to take the lead, highlighted by an Alcides Escobar double that scored two to push to a 8-7 lead. Matt Foster came in for the eighth and ninth and got the two-inning save. Palka added another insurance run, but Foster didn’t need it, as he closed out the Mets for the 9-7 victory.

Birmingham Barons

All-Star break

Winston-Salem Dash

All-Star break

Kannapolis Intimidators

All-Star break

Great Falls Voyagers 11, Billings Mustangs 5

Caberea Weaver: 3-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 0 K (.238 BA, .693 OPS)
Luis Mieses: 2-for-4, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.294 BA, .721 OPS)
Harvin Mendoza: 2-for-3, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K (.278 BA, 1.046 OPS) **MVP**
Lency Delgado: 1-for-5, 0 BB, 2 K (.150 BA, .377 OPS)
Anderson Comas: 0-for-4, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K (.222 BA, .485 OPS)
Sean Thompson: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (13.50 ERA, 2.32 WHIP)

A lot of runs early, and a lot of runs in general in this rookie league matchup. Harvin Mendoza hit his second home run of the year — he had three total in his career before this season. It was a two-run homer, so the Voyagers had the early lead. However, starter Sean Thompson had some trouble in this game. He went 4 ²⁄₃ innings and allowed five runs. Thankfully, Great Falls bats had a blast. Luis Mieses drove in two with a a single (just one RBI, though, after a right fielder error on the play), and then Mendoza drove in his third run of the game ... with a bases-loaded walk. Sam Abbott added the second home run of the game for the Voyagers, another two-run shot, and Thompson left with what was a two-run lead, even after allowing five earned. The Voyagers were not satisfied with only being up 7-5, however. Mieses came up with another single that drove in two in the eighth. In the ninth, Abbott drove in Ty Greene to push the lead to five. Just for good measure, Weaver tripled home the last run of the game, as Great Falls went on to win 11-5.

AZL White Sox 4, AZL Royals 2

Jose Rodriguez: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 0 BB, 0 K (.500 BA, 1.625 OPS) **MVP**
DJ Gladney: 0-for-4, 0 BB, 3 K (.167 BA, .500 OPS)
Josue Guerrero: 1-for-3, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K (.333 BA, .833 OPS)
Avery Weems: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (0.00 ERA, 0.66 WHIP)

After 4 ¹⁄₂ shutout innings by both teams, the AZL Sox broke through for a 2-0 lead. Up until the fifth inning, though, Avery Weems was lights-out. In his first professional game, Weems threw three shutout innings and only allowed two singles. Unfortunately, he got no run support from the bats during his outing. When the offense came on in the fifth, the first run came via error and then Samil Polanco drove in a run to push the lead to two. However, thanks to an error in the sixth, the AZL Royals tied the game 2-2. Jose Rodriguez added his first home run of the year (he only had two last season in the Dominican Republic). That solo shot put the Sox up, and they did not look back. Declan Cronin threw three shutout innings to end the game, and Misael Gonzalez drove in an insurance run in the eighth to bring the final score to 4-2.

DSL White Sox 12, DSL Padres 11

Anthony Espinoza: 2-for-4, 1 R , 3 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K (.288 BA, .847 OPS)
Jefferson Mendoza: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (.400 BA, 1.003 OPS)
Johnabiell Laureano: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (.327 BA, .890 OPS) **MVP**
Luis Rodriguez: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (3.71 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)

A lot of offense going around in this game, with 23 total runs scored. The DSL Sox really hit the ball well and often. They collected 15 hits, as eight of the nine starting players collected at least one safety. Six of the nine batters in the lineup collected multiple hits, led by Matthew Mercedes who had three. The Sox ended up with seven total extra-base hits, including a home run from Johnabiell Laureano. The pitching for the DSL Sox does not look as bad as it might seem, because of the 11 runs the DSL Padres scored, just four of them were earned. The DSL Sox had four total errors, and some were especially haunting in the six-run sixth inning for the DSL Friars. All six of the runs scored that inning were due to errors. Luis Nin pitched the final three innings and threw a legit shutout (no earned or unearned runs) to help close out the 12-11 win.