Colson Montgomery may not be playing where he'd hoped this September, but based on his performance this past week, it seems like he's trying to make the most of it in Charlotte.
Montgomery had his best six-game series of the season in Norfolk. He went 10-for-24, good for a .417/.481/.792 start to his September on the strength of three homers, including his 17th of the season on Sunday:
In the process, he's tied a season high with a seven-game hitting streak, and this one has a lot more going for it.
If you want to pick nits, you can find them -- that homer was on a 72-mph rolling curveball, and the other homers have been on elevated low-90s sinkers, he's struck out nine times over those six games, it hasn't been the best weekend for him in the field -- but they're also nits that only surface due to the five months of struggles beforehand. In most other cases, you'd probably just say "nice week" and leave it at that. The real course-reversing work starts in the offseason and into 2025, but still, it's nice to see anything that hints at a greater turnaround.
Charlotte 9, Norfolk 7
- Colson Montgomery went 1-for-4 with a homer, sac fly and three strikeouts.
- Oscar Colás had the same line, but without the sac fly.
- Tim Elko was 1-for-5 with a K.
- Jake Eder: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3 HR, 45 of 74 pitches for strikes.
- Michael Soroka: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
- Steven Wilson: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Pensacola 6, Birmingham 5
- Rikuu Nishida went 0-for-5.
- Wilfred Veras doubled, singled, walked, got plunked, struck out and was caught stealing.
- DJ Gladney went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
- Jacob Gonzalez, 1-for-5.
- Riley Gowens: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 1 HBP, 54 of 81 pitches for strikes.
Greenville 5, Winston-Salem 4
- Samuel Zavala went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Caden Connor was 3-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Casey Saucke, 2-for-4 with a strikeout at the plate, and 1-for-2 on the basepaths.
- Ryan Galanie wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Wes Kath went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.
- Shane Murphy: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 38 of 59 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*Kath was removed after taking a pitch that either hit his hand or the knob of the bat. It was ruled the latter, but Kath ended up leaving the game, and Wilber Sanchez finished his at-bat, so if was trying to sell the call, he really went the distance.
Salem 13, Kannapolis 3
- Ryan Burrowes went 0-for-4 with a K.
- T.J. McCants, 2-for-3 with a walk.
- Sam Antonacci entered as a midgame replacement and went 0-for-2 with a K.
- Jeral Perez went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Pierce George: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 8 of 10 pitches for strikes.
