White Sox Minor League Update: June 19

Three wins, and three amazing starting pitching performances from Jason Bilous, Jerry Burke and Bailey Horn

WOOF. In the three affiliate wins tonight, the starters combined for 15 innings, TWO HITS and 20 Ks. But just two wins!

Hey, anyone else notice I’m the only one so far this year with a winning recap record? No? OK. Who cares? All right, all right.

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Down 6-3 in the middle of the fifth inning, Charlotte looked up at those Jumbo Shrimp and said, “nope.” One six-spot to crook up the game later, the Knights were home free, taking a 3-2 lead in this week’s series, with a chance to wrap up a series win on Sunday.

The theme tonight is the same one that’s been running all week: two-homer games. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it was Tim Beckham, and Thursday it was Mikie Mahtook. After a day of long-ball rest, the Knights stoked the home run-ball again, with Zach Remillard clouting two (Blake Rutherford and Gavin Sheets also going deep in the game).

Let’s hone in on the fifth, where the magic happened in Charlotte. Beckham merely flew out to plate Remillard, who’d singled, stole second and was pushed to third on two walks. With runners on the corners, Sheets singled home a run, drawing the Knights to within one. After another walk, Rutherford sent a two-out, 0-1 pitch out to center for a grand slam and the eventual game-winning runs.

On the pitching side, Jimmy Lambert followed up his sweet-sweet Sunday start with a flatter game, four innings of three-run (two earned) ball; Kyle Kubat relieved Lambert and vultured a win despite a mediocre outing.

Jake Burger, who’s now being whispered as a July call-up (?!?), had another two errors, and while Charlotte keeps tweeting out the (legit) fielding highlights Burger generates, he’s really only fit to replace Yermín Mercedes in the White Sox lineup right now, if that.

Charlotte hitting? Molto bene. Pitching? Eh. Fielding. Yuck.

But it’s a win, baby, 16-24 on the season.

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It was heartbreak city for Birmingham, who had another flaccid offensive game, still stitched together enough offense to win, then completely wasted a Jason Bilous gem by surrendering runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth in this fall-from-ahead loss.

Bilous, boy howdy, he was a dandy tonight, throwing five no-hit innings, whiffing nine Mississippis. Naturally, the minute he was yanked, 62 pitches in (46 strikes), the Barons started to fall apart. After a solid sixth (striking out the side ... in fact, both teams whiffed through the order in the sixth ... six batters, six strikeouts), Anderson Severino did not want his fielders to participate, with two walks leading to a hook, and a run on his tab in the seventh.

(Fast fact: The Mississippi run in the seventh was made more hurtful by Joel Booker’s soft fly out to end the inning with the sacks packed and game ready to be broken open, in the Birmingham top half.)

In the eighth, Peter Tago (already inducing Severino severity by not picking his teammate up in the seventh), put a run of his own on the board with one of those old-fashioned GIDP runs allowed.

(Another fast fact: The Barons had the sacks packed in the eighth, too, diffused by a, you guessed it, fly out, this time from Laz Rivera.)

(How about a third fast fact, this one more puzzling but less depressing, perhaps: Before the bottom of the eighth, JJ Muno had to leave the game, presumably due to injury, and Birmingham lost its DH — Tago entered the batting order, at No. 6.)

Game tied 2-2 into the ninth, the Barons could muster just a Romy González single, while Mississippi’s momentum pushed them to a walk-off wild pitch from Luis Ledo.

(Tired of fast facts, or parentheses, yet? I don’t blame you, they all sorta suck. But Ledo allowed a leadoff single, then a double, but the lead runner was held at third. Then, a soft tap-out to first and a K, and Ledo looked like he might just laugh in the face of win probability. An intentional pass packed the sacks and set up a force anywhere in Mississippi, but with catcher Hendrik Clementina down 1-2 in the count, Luis uncorked a wild one and well, thar she blows.)

The reeling Barons are 23-17.

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True to form for Winston-Salem this year, there was just enough offense to squeak by. The Dash are just about .500 (20-21) and I swear their wins are by an average of like 1.3 runs per game. If it wasn’t 2:30 a.m., I’d look it up. Maybe next time.

Jerry Burke was today’s hero, throwing five strong innings, scoreless and in fact on just one hit. Unlike the debauchery in Mississippi, however, the Dash didn’t see the game crumble after Burke was pulled (47 pitches, 35 strikes!). Wilber Perez, OK, he tried to give the game away, but Greensboro just go to within 3-2 on his watch. Cooper Bradford and Brian Glowicki combo covered the final two innings and held the lead, delivering Burke a well-earned first victory of the season.

In the category of burying the lede, it was Yoelqui Céspedes’ first game for the White Sox tonight, and he went 0-for-3 with a walk, K, run and three LOB. He was the DH, batting second, so we’ll see if he gets some time subbing for Alex Destino in right field tomorrow.

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Cannon Ballers go boom!

After giving the rest of Low-A a six-week head start, Kannapolis is balling out and mashing like we all knew they would. Today’s 9-1 win was a 15-hit assault, and nine runs in their first 14 outs. But there were a lot of other ways this game was cool:

• The CBs clubbed six homers, leading to eight runs
• Victor Torres both stole home and homered
• Luis Mieses did not homer, but had a double and three singles in the cleanup spot
• Bailey Horn continued to make a case for promotion before the All-Star break, going five scoreless innings, giving up just one hit against nine Ks and throwing 52 of 71 pitches for strikes
• The entire Kanny staff gave up just three hits and one run, against 14 Ks
• Kannapolis played an errorless game

DJ Gladney had a platinum sombrero for the Cannon Ballers, noted because it was such an anomaly this game — let’s face it, it’s quite a unicorn at any time and place. Go get ’em mañana, DJ.

Someone was bound to be victimized by the Ballers waking from their slumber, and it appears that Down East, playing generous hosts by dropping four of five to Kannapolis, is that victim.

Kanny tries to make it five of six and improve to just 17 below .500 with a win on Sunday afternoon.