White Sox Minor League Update: June 24-25, 2024

The Charlotte Knights and Birmingham Barons score wins for the affiliates

Charlotte Knights 4, Norfolk Tides 2 (10 innings) (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
The Knights kicked off the scoring with a two-spot in the second on a two-out double by Mark Payton, who is having himself a month. In June, he’s slashing .338/.400/.662 with a 1.062 OPS.

That was it for Charlotte’s scoring during regulation, but the Knights nailed down the victory by scoring two in the 10th — with the help of some sloppy Norfolk defense. With Wilmer Difo as the ghost runner on second, Carlos Pérez knocked a routine grounder to second. Rather than take the safe out at first, Connor Norby tried to nab Difo at third and overthrew the base, allowing Wilmer to score.

Oscar Colás, who went 3-for-5 on the night, added an extra cushion two outs later, smacking an RBI double left. The Tides couldn’t get anything going in their half of the frame, and the Knights sealed the contest with a 4-2 victory on the road.

Righthander Sean Burke got the start for Charlotte and was pretty solid. The 24-year-old tossed four innings of two-hit, one-run ball, lowering his season ERA to 3.93. Deivi García gave up the only other Norfolk run, a round-tripper to Coby Mayo in the eighth, during his 1 1⁄3 innings. He earned the win as he also pitched the ninth. Sammy Peralta came on to pitch the bottom of the 10th, and after hitting the first batter, he quietly got the next three outs to get his first save of the season.

Birmingham Barons 9, Tennessee Smokies 3 (Gameday box)
Fresh off of its harrowing “clinch” of the first-half title with a loss on Sunday, Birmingham’s offense was clicking on all cylinders with an 11-hit night. Tim Elko got things going in the third inning with a clutch two-out, two-run single. The Old Miss alumnus has really heated up in June, slashing .371/.421/.457 with a .878 OPS.

Newly promoted centerfielder Matt Hogan, who was 4-for-4, cranked a two-run bomb in the bottom of the fifth, giving Birmingham a 4-3 lead. That was all they would need to claim the W, but they went on to score five more runs, including two more two-run doubles, by Brooks Baldwin and Hogan.

We’ve got to give a shout-out to Hogan’s defense as well. Look at this awesome grab in the top of the seventh!

Jairo Iriarte earned a quality start in Birmingham’s win. He surrendered three runs on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts over six innings. After a red-hot April and a decent May, June has been a bit of a rollercoaster for the young righty. It was great to see him bounce back tonight after giving up five earned runs and struggling with his control in his last outing. Gil Luna and Andrew Dalquist blanked the Smokies over the last three innings to earn the hold and save, respectively.

Rome Emperors 10, Winston-Salem Dash 4 (Gameday box)
The Dash offense smacked 10 hits, nine of which were singles, but they couldn’t come through in the clutch. They were only 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and they left 11 runners on base. Third baseman DJ Gladney, who has suffered multiple IL stints so far this year, was 3-for-5 with an RBI double. Center fielder Samuel Zavala drove in the only other earned run with an RBI single.

Unfortunately, starter Drew McDaniel didn’t have the stuff tonight. The Emperors rocked the 23-year-old for seven runs on eight hits over only 3 1⁄3 innings. This was McDaniel’s second-shortest outing of the season, made more troubling by the fact that he had to leave the game after an apparent injury on the mound in the fourth.

The bullpen wasn’t much help either, adding three more runs to the total and putting this contest far out of reach.

Columbia Fireflies 7, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5 (Gameday box)
The Cannon Ballers outhit the Fireflies but ultimately couldn’t outscore them. Columbia jumped out to an early lead, scoring in the first, and Kannapolis was behind the 8-ball all night. In the bottom of the second, catcher Luis Pineda, who went 2-for-4, smashed a solo shot to right, his fourth of the year. Downers Grove North native George Wolkow had a nice game, going 2-for-3 with a walk. He’s had a bit of a slow start since arriving in North Carolina, but he’s still extremely young at only 18 years old!

Starter Jacob Bockenstedt, who had been pitching well of late, could not get it done. Skipper Pat Leyland gave Bockenstedt the hook after he surrendered six runs on eight hits over 3 2⁄3 innings. The Kannapolis arm barn of Connor Housley, Manuel Veloz, and Mark McLaughlin stopped the bleeding for the most part, as Veloz gave up only one more tally the rest of the way.

ACL Padres 4, ACL White Sox 3 (seven innings) (Monday) (Gameday box)
As the thermometer read 105° at gametime on Monday, you’d be forgiven if asking wait I thought the season moved up to avoid this kind of heat? At any rate, the Complex Sox and Padres game was not as close as the final score indicated.

Once San Diego settled into the heat, its offense erupted for four runs in the fourth off of Carlton Perkins, who’s been walloped in three straight games now.

The Complex Sox offense made a run at it in final bats, scoring two on a double and a ground out but ending the game flat, with a seventh K in seven frames.

ACL White Sox 5, ACL Giants 3 (Tuesday) (Gameday box)
Not a lot of exciting offense in this one, but Arnold Prado had a big RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to put the Sox up 3-1. After the Giants came back to tie the game in the top of the ninth, D’Angelo Tejada nuked a two-run shot to walk it off.

Old friend Davis Martin is on a rehab assignment (Tommy John surgery) and got the start tonight for the ACL Sox. He was dominant, tossing three shutout innings and striking out five. It was his third rehab appearance and, by far, his best.

Chicago’s 2023 fifth-round draft pick (No. 152) Christian Oppor pitched the last three innings and, despite giving up two runs on two hits and walking three, earned the win.