Pensacola Blue Wahoos 7, Birmingham Barons 4
Tanner Banks: 4 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (L, 1-6)
Vince Arobio: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Luis Alexander Basabe (CF): 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 E
Damek Tomscha (LF): 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 K
Gavin Sheets (1B): 1-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Ti’quan Forbes (2B): 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS
Luis González (DH): 1-for-4
Zach Remillard (3B): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K **MVP**
Laz Rivera (SS): 1-for-4, 1 R
Tanner Banks was perfect through four but imploded in the fifth, allowing five runs, as the Barons eventually fell to the Blue Wahoos (you know, the Blue Wahoos) 7-4. Banks now falls to 1-6 on the year, not that win-loss record says much about a pitcher, although his WHIP of 1.29, ERA of 4.69, and FIP entering today of 4.15 contribute a little more. The lefty started the season well, appearing mostly out of the bullpen, but has struggled this year as a starter, repeating the level. Danny Dopico and Luis Martinez both gave up one run over one inning each, Dopico hitting two with a pitch. Vince Arobio was the only Barons pitcher not tagged, completing one perfect inning in his 10th appearance for the team.
No. 1 ✅@Zachyflat7 with his first Double-A homer to put the Barons up by a pair in the fifth!#BuiltInBham | #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/IeDwOtEi9S
— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) August 6, 2019
Seven of the nine Barons in the lineup went home with exactly one hit, and six of them drew one walk. Zach Remillard was one of these; he hit five home runs over 95 games with the Dash this season, and already has that box checked off in Birmingham, hitting a solo shot to lead off the fifth. Later in that inning, Laz Rivera singled and Luis Basabe walked; Joel Booker’s ground ball turned into a minor disaster for the Blue Wahoos as the pitcher’s error scored Rivera; Ti’Quan Forbes also grounded out, successfully (depending on how you look at it), Basabe scoring on the play. Damek Tomscha, who’s batting .321/.366/.512 in 23 games since signing as a minor league free agent, also hit an RBI single.
Kannapolis Intimidators 9, Lexington Legends 5
Jason Bilous: 5 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (W, 5-6)
Ian Dawkins (CF): 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Lenyn Sosa (SS): 4-for-5, 2 R, 2 2B **MVP**
Alex Destino (RF): 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Amado Nuñez (2B): 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Tyler Osik (1B): 0-for-4, 2 K
Michael Hickman (C): 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K
Ramón Beltre (3B): 1-for-4, 1 R
A late four-run inning wasn’t enough for the Legends, and the Intimidators carried the day on Monday 9-5. Lenyn Sosa led the charge with four hits, including two doubles, and Amado Nuñez and Ian Dawkins weren’t too far behind with a home run apiece. Dawkins, who has spent the entire year in Low-A, is now batting .311/.368/.420. He has a 10-game batting average of .333. Sosa has been streaky all year and has spent the last month or so dealing with injuries and a cold bat, but in an extremely small sample size of five games in August so far, he is batting .368/.429/.632.
Tyler Osik, this year’s 27th-round draft pick, played in his first game for the team and went hitless. Over 31 games in the AZL, he hit .271/.346/.373; he skipped over Great Falls and went straight to Kannapolis from there. Michael Hickman singled in a run and Alex Destino hit an RBI double. Destino, who played in four games for the Dash in April but has otherwise been with the Intimidators, is batting .311/.393/.503, and has a 10-game batting average of… .333. Cameron Simmons hit a sacrifice fly and, in some act of karmic revenge, was hit by a pitch, also driving in a run with the bases loaded. Nuñez hit a sac fly in that inning as well. The final I’s runs scored in the ninth, Hickman trotting home on a balk (a classic!) and Dawkins singling in Ramón Beltre from a single of his own.
AZL White Sox 2, AZL Athletics Green 1 — 10 innings
Jeremiah Burke: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Joseph Jarneski: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Caleb Freeman: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
Samil Polanco (2B): 2-for-4, 1 K, 1 SB
Bryce Bush (RF): 0-for-3, 1 K
José Rodriguez (SS): 1-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 K **MVP**
Bryan Ramos (DH): 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Josue Guerrero (LF): 2-for-4, 1 K
Victor Torres (C): 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 SB
It took 10 innings, but the AZL Sox were victorious over the Athletics Green squad. Clearly, this was a low-hit, low-run affair; Samil Polanco and Josue Guerrero combined for four of the squad’s six hits, and the A’s Green were held to four total. The 10th opened with a runner automatically placed on second (Misael González), as is written in the 10 Commandments, and Polanco bunted him over to third. Logan Glass, pinch-hitting for Bryce Bush in his second game back from injury, was intentionally walked, and José Rodriguez grounded him in for the eventual game-winning run. Their other run came earlier, in the seventh inning; Bryan Ramos walked, Guerrero singled him to second, Sidney Pimentel was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Victor Torres hit a sacrifice fly to score Ramos.
Jeremiah Burke (17th round) was lights-out on the mound, throwing the best start of his professional career, allowing two hits over a scoreless five innings. Joseph Jarneski, recently traded from the Rangers as part of the Nate Jones package, made his Sox debut and gave up one run. Caleb Freeman (15th round) pitched two scoreless, walking none, giving up one hit, and striking out four. McKinley Moore (14th round) pitched one, walking three but allowing no runs. Mac Welsh, an undrafted free agent signing from over the offseason, finished it out with a scoreless inning of his own.
Oriel Castro: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 WP
Ray Castro: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (W, 5-0)
Wilber Sánchez (2B): 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 E
Yolbert Sánchez (DH): 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
Benyamin Bailey (LF): 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K **MVP**
Matthew Mercedes (1B): 1-for-4, 1 BB
Johnabiell Laureano (CF): 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
Jefferson Mendoza (C): 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 K, 1 E
Yolbert Sánchez, Benyamin Bailey, and Johnabiell Laureano all had big days for the DSL club. Laureano, who is now batting .374/.446/.552 over 48 games, hit his fourth home run in the second inning, a solo shot. Benyamin Bailey, who is batting .342/.498/.465 in 47 games, hit his second homer in the third. Sánchez singled in the fifth and scored on Laureano’s sacrifice fly double play, which leads me to believe there was some kind of baserunning shenaniganery involved. In other scoring news, Wilber Sánchez scored on a passed ball after walking, Edwin Peralta singled in Jefferson Mendoza and Juan Mercedes from a single and double respectively, Sánchez (W.) doubled them both in but was thrown out trying to make it a triple. Elijah Tatís went hitless but did contribute a sac fly.
Oriel Castro, who spent the first half of the season pitching out of the bullpen and the second half starting, had his second straight fairly short two-run outing, although it doesn’t look like they’re running him out far beyond three innings normally anyway. Ray Castro, part of the return for Nate Jones, pitched four solid innings, allowing just one run and walking nobody. Jesus Rondon finished it up, giving up one run over two innings and striking out four.