It took Mason Adams until his 19th appearance to throw fewer than five innings.
It also happened to take place in his Triple-A debut, which began poorly and ended with him walking off the mound with a trainer escort.
Adams lasted just three innings in his first start for Charlotte, which featured an uncharacteristic lapse in control. He issued three consecutive walks with two outs in the first, the last of which brought in a run, and he already had 30 pitches on his tab by the time he got a groundout to end the inning.
He danced out of danger in the second, but he walked a fourth batter in the third inning, and opened the fourth with a four-pitch walk. That's when new manager Pat Listach came out with the trainer, and after a brief conversation, Adams departed.
His line initially didn't concern me, because while Adams walked five over three innings, he had a similar blip in his control numbers late last season upon promotion to Double-A. Whether it was the nerves, the degree of difficulty, fatigue after clearing 100 innings or some combination of the three, Adams looked a little rocky over his first three starts with the Barons. Then he opened this season in Birmingham and looked like he belonged from the jump.
Throwing only 33 of 68 pitches for strikes, on the other hand, is not something that Adams does. More than that, he opened the fourth with a fastball that was struggling to clear 90 mph, which is probably the bigger reason why Listach pulled the plug when he did.
Adams has already thrown 106 innings this season, so if the issue is a temporary one -- and FutureSox relayed that it's back stiffness -- he doesn't have to worry about making up the workload. A more significant injury would shelve one of the White Sox's best developmental stories going.
Charlotte 11, Louisville 5
- Bryan Ramos went 2-for-5 with a double.
- Edgar Quero, 3-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Zach DeLoach was 2-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Tim Elko homered twice and walked during his 2-for-4 night.
- Colson Montgomery, 1-for-5 with a triple and a strikeout.
- Oscar Colás was 1-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Mason Adams: 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 33 of 68 pitches for strikes.
Highlights:
*Elko's homers were virtually identical in shape and size, and both were on 90 mph fastballs. The first was a sinker, the other was a four-seamer.
Birmingham 9, Rocket City 5
- Jacob Gonzalez perked up: 1-for-2 with a double, three walks and a sac fly.
- So did Wilfred Veras, who went 3-for-5 with a double, HBP and a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney was 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Terrell Tatum, 1-for-3 with two walks.
- Noah Schultz: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 WP, 1 HBP, 41 of 64 pitches for strikes.
Winston-Salem 3, Greenville 2 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Rikuu Nishida went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
- William Bergolla was 1-for-3.
- Wes Kath singled twice and struck out once.
- Ryan Galanie was 0-for-2 with a sac fly and a strikeout.
- Casey Saucke made his pro-ball debut and went 1-for-3.
- Eddie Park doubled, walked and struck out.
- Samuel Zavala went 0-for-2.
- Lucas Gordon: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 45 of 80 pitches for strikes.
Greenville 4, Winston-Salem 3 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Loidel Chapelli went 1-for-2 with a walk.
- Ryan Galanie went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer and a strikeout.
- Casey Saucke was 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Caden Connor, 1-for-3.
- William Bergolla pinch-hit and singled, but he was caught stealing.
- Wes Kath pinch-hit and struck out.
Columbia 3, Kannapolis 2
- Sam Antonacci went 0-for-4.
- Ryan Burrowes, 2-for-4 with a double.
- George Wolkow walked once and struck out thrice.
- Ronny Hernandez was 0-for-4.
- Nathan Archer doubled once and struck out twice.
DSL Angels 6, DSL White Sox 3 (7 innings)
- Christian Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
- Jurdrick Profar singled, walked, struck out and stole a base.
- Eduardo Herrera struck out twice and reached on catcher interference.
- Jesus Premoli went 1-for-3.
- Jehancarlos Mendez, 1-for-2 with an HBP, and he was caught stealing.
- Yhoiker Fajardo: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
