The first week of the minor league season concludes Sunday, leaving one six-game series for the two White Sox affiliates in contention to regain ground, as both slipped into second place last week.
The Birmingham Barons opened their series against Montgomery with a 12-3 victory, then scored eight runs over their next five games, all losses. They're now 32-30, a half-game back of Chattanooga in the Southern League North standings with seven games against the Columbus Clingstones remaining.
The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers also dropped five of six against Columbia, who leap-frogged them in the Carolina League South standings. The Fireflies now lead the division by two games, while Kannapolis is tied with three other teams two games back. They play one of the teams they're tied with, the Charleston RiverDogs, this coming week, but that only solves one of their problems.
Charlotte 6, Durham 3
- Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-2 with a double.
- Bryan Ramos pinch-hit for him and was 0-for-1 with an HBP and a walk.
- Tim Elko, 3-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Dru Baker wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Tyler Schweitzer: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 45 of 77 pitches for strikes.
- Jairo Iriarte: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K,
- Wikelman González: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Montgomery 2, Birmingham 1
- Rikuu Nishida went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and a sac bunt.
- William Bergolla was 1-for-4 with a walk.
- Ryan Galanie and Jacob Gonzalez both were 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Wilfred Veras, 0-for-4.
- DJ Gladney was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Shane Murphy: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 56 of 77 pitches for strikes.
Winston-Salem 4, Bowling Green 1
- Samuel Zavala went 2-for-5.
- Jeral Perez and Braden Montgomery both were 2-for-4.
Columbia 3, Kannapolis 2
- Javier Mogollón was 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Caleb Bonemer walked once and struck out thrice.
- Ronny Hernandez was 2-for-4.
- George Wolkow went 1-for-3 with a homer, HBP and strikeout.
- Lyle Miller-Green was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Abraham Nuñez, 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts.
