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White Sox Minor League Update: June 9, 2021

Strong pitching by Winston-Salem and Kannapolis highlight a 2-2 day

By Joe Resis
Coming up short: Gavin Sheets had one of Charlotte’s five RBIs, but five was not enough to beat the Durham Bulls (22-9).
Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights

It was a tough night for the Knights pitching staff from start to finish, as the Bulls led for nearly the entire game.

Familiar face Reynaldo López started on the mound for the Knights, and his tough path back to Chicago did not get any easier. After two Durham walks, a single, and incredibly, a double-steal, the Bulls led by a score of 2-0 after one inning. In the bottom of the third, the Bulls built on their lead, as a Ryan Boldt triple drove in Durham’s third run.

After failing to score in the first three innings, the Knights came to life in the fourth. Matt Reynolds led off with a single, and 2017 first round pick Jake Burger doubled Reynolds over to third. After a pair of RBI ground outs by Gavin Sheets and Mikie Mahtook, the Knights had trimmed the deficit to 2-1.

However, that was as close as the Knights got, as López had another tough inning in the bottom of the fourth. The Bulls rallied for four more runs against López, and that rally was capped off by a two-run homer by elite prospect Wander Franco. That made the score 7-2, and though the offense had a decent day, it was not enough to mount a comeback that large.

The Knights got back in the game when Tim Beckham launched a three-run homer in the sixth to make it 7-5.

However, that was the last time a Knight crossed the plate, and the bullpen allowed a few more insurance runs late.

Poll

Who was the Knights MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 62%
    Tim Beckham: 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
    (44 votes)
  • 25%
    Brian Goodwin: 2-for-3, BB, R
    (18 votes)
  • 10%
    Jake Burger: 1-for-4, 2B, R
    (7 votes)
  • 1%
    Danny Dopico: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 3 K
    (1 vote)
70 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Knights Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 97%
    Reynaldo López: 4 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 3 K
    (79 votes)
  • 1%
    Tayron Guerrero: 1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K
    (1 vote)
  • 1%
    Mikie Mahtook: 0-for-4, RBI, 2 K
    (1 vote)
81 votes total Vote Now

It took a long time for the Barons bats to wake up, and by then, it was too late, as the Biscuits walked away with a close victory.

Konnor Pilkington started on the mound for Birmingham and while he managed to salvage his outing, the first inning was not so easy. Like the Knights, the Barons found themselves behind by a score of 2-0 after the first inning. Pilkington retired the first two he faced, but he issued a six-pitch walk, and Jim Haley followed with a two-run homer.

Haley’s home run gave the Barons an early deficit, and he went on to drive in an insurance run in the sixth. Haley and Moises Gomez hit back-to-back RBI singles that inning against reliever Luis Ledo to make it 4-0.

Meanwhile, for most of this game, Birmingham’s offense struggled immensely. In fact, the first Barons hit did not come until there were two outs in the seventh, when catcher Carlos Pérez singled. The Barons could not build off that lonely single that inning, and they went down 1-2-3 in the eighth.

With two outs and nobody on in the ninth, the Barons still trailed by a score of 4-0. Though the game was all but over at that point, Jameson Fisher singled. That set up former Indiana Hoosier Craig Dedelow for the only two Birmingham RBIs of the day. Dedelow’s sixth homer of the season made it a 4-2 game, and that is how this low-scoring matchup ended.

Poll

Who was the Barons MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 51%
    Craig Dedelow: 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
    (25 votes)
  • 48%
    Bennett Sousa: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K
    (24 votes)
49 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Barons Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 16%
    Luis Ledo: 1 1⁄3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 K
    (7 votes)
  • 78%
    Romy González: 0-for-4, 4 K
    (33 votes)
  • 2%
    Mitch Roman: 0-for-3, 2 K
    (1 vote)
  • 2%
    JJ Muno: 0-for-3, 2 K
    (1 vote)
42 votes total Vote Now

Unlike the higher-level affiliates, the Dash jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. This was Winston-Salem’s second 6-4 win over Greenville in as many days.

The first run of the game scored in the bottom of the second, when the Dash got singles from Lenyn Sosa, Tyler Osik, and Johan Cruz. Sosa scored on the single by Cruz to make it a 1-0 game. In the third, Luis Curbelo led off with a double, and Yolbert Sánchez ensured that Curbelo would not get stranded, as he hit an RBI single.

The fourth inning also worked out well for the Dash. The Dash set themselves up for a big inning when Xavier Fernandez hit a leadoff single, and Osik doubled him over to third with no outs. After a strikeout and a shallow fly out, though, it appeared that the Drive might escape the jam unscathed. Then, Duke Ellis hit a grounder that Greenville’s shortstop misplayed, so two runs scored to make it 4-0.

Meanwhile, starter Taylor Varnell had a strong performance on the mound. While he did not get many swings-and-misses, the Drive struggled to make sharp contact against him, and nobody scored on his watch. It was not the finest day for the bullpen, but the offense scored enough insurance runs, so the lead was safe in the latter innings.

Poll

Who was the Dash MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 4%
    Duke Ellis: 1-for-4, BB, 3-for-3 SB, R
    (2 votes)
  • 83%
    Taylor Varnell: 5 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K
    (41 votes)
  • 8%
    Johan Cruz: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
    (4 votes)
  • 4%
    Tyler Osik: 2-for-3, HBP, R
    (2 votes)
49 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Dash Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 18%
    Alex Destino: 0-for-4, BB
    (8 votes)
  • 36%
    Wilber Pérez: 1 2⁄3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
    (16 votes)
  • 45%
    Caleb Freeman: 1 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 0 H, 4 BB, 2 K
    (20 votes)
44 votes total Vote Now

The season has not gone the Cannon Ballers’ way, but tonight was an exception. It was all Kannapolis after the top of the first, when the Mudcats scored their only run of the game.

Kannapolis starter Angel Acevedo had control issues early on, and that got him into trouble. Acevedo hit the first batter of the game and then made a throwing error on a pickoff attempt. After getting a ground out, Joe Gray Jr. hit an RBI triple against him, and Avecedo walked back-to-back batters to load the bases. Fortunately, though, Acevedo and the Cannon Ballers escaped with a deficit of only one run. Acevedo buckled down and got two straight strikeouts to prevent the inning from getting out of hand.

The Cannon Ballers tied it in the bottom of the third, when singles by Victor Torres and Chase Krogman and a walk to DJ Gladney loaded the bases. Bryan Ramos stepped up to the plate with one out, and he got a run in with a 6-4 force out.

The fifth inning proved to be the decisive one in this game. In the bottom half, the Cannon Ballers staged a rally to take a lead that remained with them for the rest of the game. With one out, José Rodriguez and Krogman hit back-to-back singles, and Ramos drove them both in with a double. Ramos advanced to third on the throw home, and that came in handy when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Luis Mieses. Kannapolis tacked on one more in the sixth, when Gladney hit an RBI double.

On the pitching side, control was an issue throughout the game for the Cannon Ballers. However, they pitched out of trouble very nicely, leaving 16 Mudcats on base. As a result, Kannapolis got its fifth win of the season and improved to 3-4 in June.

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers MVP?

This poll is closed

  • 5%
    Yoelvin Silven: 3 2⁄3 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K
    (3 votes)
  • 92%
    Chase Krogman: 4-for-4, 2B, BB, R
    (52 votes)
  • 1%
    Bryan Ramos: 1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI
    (1 vote)
56 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the Cannon Ballers Cold Cat?

This poll is closed

  • 6%
    Caberea Weaver: 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, R
    (3 votes)
  • 90%
    Harvin Mendoza: 0-for-4, K
    (40 votes)
  • 2%
    Luis Mieses: 0-for-3, RBI, 2 K
    (1 vote)
44 votes total Vote Now

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