Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 11, Charlotte Knights 3 (Statcast box)
What a strange situation the White Sox have with Charlotte as their Triple-A affiliate. The Knights (61-76) are chronically bad, and worse, have a ballpark that skews far enough to offense as to make it a desirable place to have pitching prospects skip entirely. You wonder how upset the front office will get if Charlotte ever moves up to the majors via expansion. The ballpark is unbelievable and the relationship is very healthy (let’s face it, almost every MiLB club is or will soon be owned by the same, faceless corporate entity, as baseball bows to supercharged bleed us dry capitalism.

Charlotte, for its part, did at least flirt with .500 this season: It got out of the gate fast (6-2? or was that just a dream) and then clawed back to exactly .500 sometime in July as well. But by season’s end it seems the Knights will be well south of even, and with Winston-Salem “rallying” in the second half may yet end up as the White Sox affiliate with the worst record.

If you think I’m writing this synopsis to avoid recapping another blowout loss by the Knights: yes.

Let’s just cap-tip Andre Lipcius for being by far the most clutch hitter of this game, which is exceedingly difficult when your team loses by eight and piles up just five hits. However, his bases-clearing double into the left field corner in the fifth:

For a minute, the Knights had hope … and a 3-2 lead. It would not last.

Knights MVP
Evan McKendry (RHSP): 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 K, HB, 47-of-63 strikes
Other Notables
Corey Julks (LF): 2-for-4, BB, K, SB
Caden Connor (PH-RF): 1-for-2, BB, K
Andre Lipcius (1B): 1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, K, CS, 37.7% WPA

Knights Cold Cat
Dalton Roach (RHRP): 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 R/3 ER, HR, LOSS (1-1), BLOWN SAVE (1)
Others, Chilled
Ben Cowles (3B): 0-for-4, R, BB, 3 K
Tim Elko (DH): 1-for-4, R, HBP, 3 K
Adam Hackenberg (C): 0-for-4, 2 K, 1-for-1 CS
Dru Baker (CF): 0-for-4, 3 K
Peyton Pallette (RHRP): 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR, 18-of-34 strikes

Heyo, on the other hand, lookit these Barons (78-53)! The club officially clinched a second-half division win to qualify for the Southern League playoffs for the second straight season. Last year Birmingham backed in despite a first-half free-fall, earning a postseason slot essentially because the second-place club in the SL North had played one fewer game (!) and then made an improbable run to the title. But in 2025, Bham will go in as the favorites, both because they have been BY FAR the strongest team in the Southern League in the second half and they’re almost assured of finishing the year with the best full-season SL record overall. No sneaking up on anyone this year, fellas. Congrats to a great organization down there in Birmingham, and best of luck in the playoffs!

Tonight, the Barons won a game much closer than the final score indicates, despite never trailing. Bham jumped out to a 3-0 lead but was nursing the game, 3-2, when three tallies in the top of the ninth put it away. Heroes at the end were William Bergolla with a two-run double and Caleb Freeman for LOCKING IT DOWN for the save. William Bergolla also kept with a crazy-fives theme, following up 5 RBIs last night with a 5-for-5 effort on Saturday, pushing his average up to .288.

Barons MVP
William Bergolla (SS): 5-for-5, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI, 19.2% WPA
Other Notables
Jake Palisch (LHRP): 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 2 K, HR, WIN (8-3), 22.9% WPA
Connor McCullough (RHSP): 4 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 K, HR, 11.5% WPA
Caleb Freeman (RHRP): 1 1/3 IP, 3 K, SAVE (2), 10-of-14 strikes
Rikuu Nishida (2B): 1-for-4, BB
Sam Antonacci (3B): 1-for-4, R, BB
Ryan Galanie (DH): 1-for-3, R, RBI, SF, K

Barons Cold Cat
Drew Dalquist (RP): 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K
Others, Chilled
DJ Gladney (LF): 0-for-4, 2 K
Alex Makarewicz (1B): 0-for-4, 3 K
Calvin Harris (C): 0-for-4, R, 3 K

What was intended as a doubleheader after a Thursday washout became a barely-there single game that started very late (9:15 p.m.) due to a four-hour, 17-minute rain delay. But the Dash (55-73) made the conditions work for them, rallying for a walk-off win courtesy of a Lyle Miller-Green run-scoring single.

The end of the game was not without some controversy, as Drive manager Liam Carroll was ejected in the top of the seventh, before his club scored the run that would knot the game at three; apparently there was a swinging bunt out to catcher, and perhaps there was some debate over catcher’s interference or some sort. Anyhow, the Drive ran wild that inning (three steals) and evened the game up with a two-out, 0-1 single as a last gasp.

But W-S rallied, with two one-out walks putting pinch-runner T.J. McCants in scoring position for Miller-Green to do his magic. It remains possible for the Dash to finish at .500 for the second half.

Dash MVP
Lyle Miller-Green (1B): 1-for-3, GWRBI, BB, K, 27.6% WPA
Other Notables
Samuel Zavala (CF): 0-for-1, R, 3 BB
Jeral Perez (2B): 3-for-4, RBI
Caleb Bonemer (3B): 1-for-3, R, BB, K
Cole McConnell (DH): 0-for-2, 2 BB
Dylan Cumming (RHSP): 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, HR, WP
Nick Altermatt (RHRP): IP, 3 K, HOLD (3)

Dash Cold Cat
Aric McAtee (RHRP): IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K, BLOWN SAVE (2), WIN (1-1), 12-of-16 strikes

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 13, Augusta GreenJackets 4
Halfway through this game, it was a safe, sedate contest. But Kanny (64-67) parlayed a 3-2 game into a blowout courtesy of 10 runs over the final four innings. Augusta didn’t know what hit it. All in all, it was a 16-hit attack buoyed by seven walks; 12 were left on base in the game, but the CBs converted on half (9-of-18) of opportunities with RISP. Reliever Hale Sims was the beneficiary of those final eight runs in the game, so his save either came from the fact that he entered a three-run (5-2) game, or pitched three innings of winning relief; I’m never quite sure of the save rules, but yes, in a 13-4 there was a save!

Ballers MVP
Arxy Hernandez (3B): 2-for-5, 2 R, HR, CS, 23.0% WPA
Other Notables
Kaleb Freeman (C): 1-for-5, 2 R, RBI, BB, K, SB, 1-for-1 CS, 7.3% WPA
Hale Sims (RHRP): 3 IP, H, 6 K, SAVE (3), 31-of-42 strikes
Jordan Sprinkle (LF): 2-for-4, R, BB, CS, SAC, picked off 1B
Ely Brown (RF): 1-for-5, R, RBI, BB, 2 K
Anthony DePino (1B): 2-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI, K, HR, 2 SB, HBP
George Wolkow (DH): 2-for-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, SB, BB, 2 K
Miguel Santos (2B): 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, 2 K
Colby Shelton (SS): 1-for-3, R, BB, K, HBP
Leandro Alsinois (CF): 2-for-5, 2 2B, R, RBI, K

Ballers Cold Cat
Gabriel Rodriguez (RHRP): 2 IP, H, 2 ER, BB, K, HR, WP, WIN (4-2)
Others, Chilled
Ricardo Brizuela (RHSP): 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 K, BB, 2 HB, pickoff at 2B, E, WP

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