White Sox Minor League Update: June 22, 2024

South Side affiliates took a bunch of L’s on Saturday, but in the one key game, the Barons won in extras to stay in the postseason driver’s seat

Gwinnett Stripers 9, Charlotte Knights 2 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Johan Domínguez was on the mound for the Knights and had a relatively efficient start after a brief IL stint, but not enough support to back him up. He gave up a run in both the second and third innings, and ended up with six hits, a walk, and four Ks in his four innings of work.

The Knights were able to quickly bounce back on offense, with Mark Payton blasting a two-run shot to right to tie the game in the bottom of the third. Well, Charlotte bounced back in this game once, at least; unfortunately, those were the only two runs the offense would muster.

As for the pitching, it was a strange day. Cody Sedlock had a hitless and scoreless inning in the fifth, but Fraser Ellard, Prelander Berroa, and Chase Plymell all gave up at least one run after that — seven among the three of them — with Ellard being credited for the loss. By the time Joe Barlow came in to relieve with a scoreless inning, it was already too far gone, and the Stripers got the 9-2 win.

Sure, they had the loss, but I didn’t anticipate Gwinnett making double plays like these!

Birmingham Barons 4, Montgomery Biscuits 1 (10 innings) (Gameday box)
The Barons slump over the past two weeks — to be fair, tough draws to finish out the first half in Pensacola and Montgomery — has cast its preordained postseason slot in jeopardy. However, Birmingham rallied in extras to remain in the driver’s seat, and a win on Sunday (or a Tennessee Smokies loss) clinches things.

It was a pitcher’s duel for most of the game on Saturday, with both teams giving up just one run apiece for the first seven innings. Noah Schultz had another strong outing, giving up five hits and one run in his four innings of work, walking just one and striking out two. In his five starts in Double-A Birmingham, Schultz sits at a 1.83 ERA, and a 0.71 WHIP — one of the lowest in the league. Keep up the excellent work, Noah!

Garrett Schoenle, whose last outing was starting Charlotte’s no-hitter a week ago, picked up the momentum that Schultz built up, following up with a hitless and scoreless three innings, and striking out five Montgomery batters. In 10 games with the Barons, Schoenle has been nothing short of impressive, and has given up just nine hits and four runs (three earned), sitting at a highly efficient 1.65 ERA to bolster the Birmingham bullpen when he’s not no-hitting clubs in Triple-A.

The lone Barons run in the first nine innings was an RBI double from Jacob Gonzalez, scoring Matt Hogan who was hit by a pitch. Michael Turner, Jason Matthews, and Hogan were the RBI heroes in extras to put the Barons up three. And shout-out to Jacob Burke for the perfect sac bunt to kick off the mini-rally for the win.

The arm barn held down the fort for Birmingham, completely shutting down the Biscuits, giving up no hits in the final three innings, including Eric Adler recording three straight outs in the 10th to get the save.

Asheville Tourists 2, Winston-Salem Dash 1 (Gameday box)
Another tough pitching matchup out in Asheville, and both teams used just two pitchers to get through nine innings. The Tourists scored early off of Juan Carela, with a two-run double in the bottom of the second. A two-run outing isn’t typically detrimental ... unless your offense isn’t fully awake, which was the case with the Dash on Saturday.

The Samuel Zavala and Loidel Chapelli one-two punch in the top of the third allowed Winston-Salem to cut the lead in half — but again, the bats would slumber from there, allowing the Tourists to walk away with a 2-1 win.

Since he didn’t receive any run support it didn’t end up mattering, but Zach Franklin was effective in his two innings pitched. He did not allow any runs or hits, struck out two, and only walked one as his sole baserunner.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 6, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3 (Gameday box)
The Cannon Ballers were more put together for the beginning half of the game. Thanks to Wilber Sánchez and Caden Connor, Kanny scored three runs in the first and third, providing necessary support for their starter. Seth Keener was cooking for the first three innings, until he made a brutal mistake in the top of the fourth, giving up a two-run homer to cut the Kannapolis lead to one.

Keener then imploded a bit in the sixth, allowing the tying run to score on a wild pitch, and subsequently giving up a two-run triple to fully lose the lead.

The Ballers didn’t fare much better the rest of the game, however. Tyler Davis came in to relieve for the final three innings, and while his line of one run on three hits and four Ks doesn’t look so bad, the home run he gave up essentially waved the white flag on Saturday.

ACL White Sox 7, ACL Royals 4 (Gameday Box)
In a much better performance than Friday’s 16-run loss, the ACL Sox were able to bounce back and snag a 7-4 win over the ACL Royals. Adrian Gil had quite the game on Saturday, going 3-for-4 with a double and a homer, driving in two RBIs and scoring twice himself. Gil began the third-inning rally that accounted for the first two runs scored, and Arnold Prado drove in another on a single a few batters later to put the Sox up four (4-0).

Jordany Chirinos was the starter for the A-Sox, and was good the first few innings, but he gave up three runs in the bottom of the third to allow the Royals to come back, 4-3.

The good news is that the White Sox had one last rally in them in the sixth, with Edrick Felix and Leandro Alsinois singling to each drive in a run. The seventh run was scored by good old fashioned WILD PITCH OFFENSE, and although the Royals snagged one back, the Sox would take the W, 7-4.