The first-half championships for each of the Southern League's divisions are coming down to the last day.
The Birmingham Barons bullpen threw six scoreless innings, which bought the offense enough time to tie the game, then explode in extras for a 4-1 victory over Montgomery in 10 innings. Alas, the Tennessee Smokies also won in 10, coming from behind to beat the Mississippi Braves, 5-4.
The Barons' lead in the North remains a half-game, but they were able to reduce the magic number to 1. The Smokies have a magic number of two. Both can drop down to zero in a day's work, although not at the same time, obviously.
In the South division, Montgomery also leads Pensacola by a half-game, so both the Barons and Biscuits will have something to play for in their series finale. Mississippi, at 30-37, not so much.
Gwinnett 9, Charlotte 2
- Zach DeLoach wore the collar and silver sombrero.
Birmingham 4, Montgomery 1 (10 innings)
- Jacob Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Brooks Baldwin and Tim Elko were 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Edgar Quero was 0-for-4.
- Wilfred Veras, 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Jacob Burke struck out thrice and sac bunted.
- Noah Schultz: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Myrtle Beach 6, Kannapolis 3
- Rikuu Nishida went 3-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases.
- Ronny Hernandez was 1-for-3 with a walk.
- George Wolkow singled once and struck out thrice.
- Ryan Burrowes was 0-for-3 with a walk, strikeout and CS.
- Seth Keener hit a wall in the sixth: 6 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 54 of 71 pitches for strikes.
Asheville 2, Winston-Salem 1
- Samuel Zavala went 1-for-4.
- Loidel Chapelli was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, and was caught stealing.
- DJ Gladney was 1-for-4 with a K.
- Wes Kath, 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Calvin Harris was 1-for-4.
- Eddie Park, 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
ACL White Sox 7, ACL Royals 4 (7 innings)
- Abraham Nunez went 1-for-4.
- Adrian Gil was a triple short of the cycle while going 3-for-4, and also stole a base.
- Stiven Flores, 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
- Javier Mogollon singled, walked and struck out.
- Jordany Chirinos: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
DSL Mariners 13, DSL White Sox 12 (8 innings)
- Jurdrick Profar was 1-for-2 with three walks.
- Christian Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Eduardo Herrera, 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Jesus Premoli went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Jeziel Boekhoudt: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
