White Sox Minor League Update: May 4, 2022

The Knights used a pair of huge innings against the Stripers to come out victorious in a high-scoring game.

Though the offense had a great evening, Johnny Cueto struggled to miss the Stripers’ bats. The first inning was easy for Cueto, but Gwinnett jumped out to an early lead in the second. With the game still scoreless, Cueto allowed a single and a walk, and with one out, Chadwick Tromp launched a three-run homer. Old friend Ryan Goins continued the big inning with a double, and Delino DeShields Jr. drove him in with a single. Just like that, it was a 4-0 ballgame.

After failing to get a hit in the first three innings, the Knights woke up with two outs and nobody on base in the fourth. Carlos Pérez drew a walk, and Seby Zavala doubled to center to drive him in. Then, Adam Haseley drew a four-pitch walk to bring the potential tying run to the plate. Haseley’s walk kept the inning alive for Micker Adolfo, who launched his second home run of the season, and it was an important one, as it tied the game.

With the game still tied at four, the Knights went back to work in the seventh. Ryder Jones got hit by a pitch to open the inning, and the Knights got good results from a pair of bunts after the HBP. Mark Payton singled on a bunt down the third base line, and Zach Remillard followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt, and due to an error everyone was safe. The bases were loaded, and there were still no outs. Yolbert Sánchez hit a two-run single that put the Knights ahead for good.

Yoán Moncada struck out, but the rally resumed when Pérez hit a two-run double to extend Charlotte’s lead to four. The last run for Charlotte scored when Haseley grounded into a force out that drove Pérez in. That made it 9-4, and although the Stripers got two runs in the ninth, that rally proved to be too little, too late.

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It was a rough game for the Barons, who fell to the Smokies by a score of 10-4.

The Barons jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first against Smokies starter Ryan Jensen. Lenyn Sosa led off with a double, and with two outs, Alex Destino drove him in with a single.

The Smokies quickly got that run back in the top of the second against Barons starter Félix Paulino. Chase Strumpf launched his fifth home run this season to lead off the inning, and that tied the game at one.

The teams ultimately traded runs in the second inning, as the Barons retook the lead in the bottom half. Indiana Hoosier Craig Dedelow drew a leadoff walk, and with one out, Jagger Rusconi drew a walk of his own. Then, with two outs, Sosa collected his second hit of the game with an RBI single to make it a 2-1 game.

Unfortunately, that was as good as the Barons’ situation got. With two outs in the top of the third, Nelson Velazquez hit the Smokies’ second game-tying solo home run of the game. Then, in the fourth, the Smokies took control of the game by hitting five singles, resulting in a three-run inning and a 5-2 lead.

Trailing by a score of 6-2 in the eighth, the Barons stuck their noses back into the game when Dedelow hit a two-run homer to cut the deficit in half.

However, the Smokies topped their fourth inning, when they had three runs on five singles, with a ninth inning that consisted of four runs on six singles. As a result of that huge inning, the game was out of reach when the top of the ninth finally ended.

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The Dash fell behind in the top of the first, and could not catch up in this one-sided loss.

It was a start to forget for Chase Solesky, who did not make it out of the first inning. Solesky threw 33 pitches to get two outs, and allowed four runs. After two singles and a walk, the Crawdads had the bases loaded with one out. That brought up Cody Freeman, who delivered a grand slam to break the game open. Solesky struck out the next batter, but after another walk, Wilber Pérez took over on the mound.

Four runs turned out to be enough for the Crawdads beat the Dash in this one, as Winston-Salem only managed two runs on five hits. The first of those two runs scored in the bottom of the second, when Adam Hackenberg hit a solo home run. Then, in the bottom of the third, Jason Matthews led off with a double, and Duke Ellis singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. Bryan Ramos drove in Matthews with a sacrifice fly to make it a 4-2 game.

Unfortunately, the Dash only got one hit after the third inning, and it was a single with the bases empty. The Crawdads pulled away in the latter portion of this game, adding some insurance runs that they ultimately did not need. Despite Winston-Salem’s poor game at the plate, Hackenberg reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances.

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It was an exciting game in Kannapolis, as the Cannon Ballers beat the Wood Ducks in dramatic fashion with a walk-off.

The Cannon Ballers got off to a strong start against Wood Ducks starter Bradford Webb. With one out and nobody on base in the bottom of the first, Wes Kath got things started with a triple to right field. DJ Gladney followed with an extra-base hit of his own, as his double drove Kath in from third. Then, with two outs, Chase Krogman doubled the early lead with an RBI single.

Cannon Ballers starter Kohl Simas got through the first two innings without allowing a run, but the Wood Ducks came out swinging in the third. Daniel Mateo led off with his first home run of the season to make the score 2-1. Tucker Mitchell followed with a single, and he stole his third base of the season to put himself in scoring position. With two outs, Maximo Acosta hit an RBI single to tie the game.

The good news is that Simas allowed no further damage besides those two runs in the third inning. Overall, it was a solid performance by Simas, who struck out five while only issuing one walk. In one year, he’s gone from undrafted free agent to one of the most intriguing starters in the system.

The Cannon Ballers retook the lead in the bottom of the third, when Kath drew a walk to start another rally. Gladney singled, which allowed Kath to advance to second, and with two outs, Krogman came through again, this time with a two-run triple.

In the sixth, reliever Haylen Green replaced Simas on the mound, and he ran into trouble immediately. José Rodriguez (yep, the Rangers also have a Popeye in their system) led off with a walk, and Maximo Acosta got him over to second with a single. Then, José Acosta drove Rodriguez in with a single.

The seventh inning was also a struggle for Green, who hit Abimelec Ortiz to open the inning. Mateo singled Ortiz over to second, but Green appeared to be working out of the jam when he retired the next two batters. However, a two-out walk to Rodriguez loaded the bases and prompted a pitching change. Garrett Schoenle took over, and he issued a walk to Maximo Acosta to force in the tying run. Schoenle did get a strikeout to preserve the tie, and the rest of his performance was outstanding. Schoenle delivered shutout innings in the eighth and ninth, allowing zero hits and only issuing one walk in those innings.

That set the Cannon Ballers up with an opportunity for a walk-off. In the bottom of the ninth, Nick Thornquist reached on an error to open the inning. Then, with one out, Misael González got hit by a pitch to put the potential winning run on second. Though Kath struck out, Gladney delivered the game-winning hit with an RBI single to send the fans home happy.