With the trade deadline looming, every quick exit from a Triple-A game can set off a little alarm bell. On Wednesday, Eric Haase’s first night in the Charlotte organization did exactly that - at least for a moment.
Haase, signed to a minor league deal Tuesday after being released by the Giants, arrived in a San Francisco orange mask and got right to work for the Knights. He went 3-for-5 with a double in his organizational debut, then grounded out in his final trip to the plate to end the top of the eighth. When Jonathan Cannon came out for the bottom half, Charlotte suddenly had a problem: nobody was ready to warm him up.
After a couple of minutes of conversation in the dugout and with the umpires, manager Chad Pinder sent Korey Lee in from the bullpen to catch the final two innings. That was enough to spark the obvious question about whether Haase was on the move to Chicago in a flurry of roster activity.
He wasn’t. The reason was simpler: he was dehydrated, so #HugWatch will have to wait a day.
Charlotte still rolled past Nashville 12-5 behind a strong night from several bats. Ryan Galanie finished 2-for-5 with a homer, while Rikuu Nishida drew four walks despite going 0-for-2.
Cannon handled the bulk work well, allowing one run on three hits across six innings with no walks and four strikeouts. He gave up one homer and threw 45 of his 64 pitches for strikes.
Elsewhere, Birmingham edged Chattanooga 7-6 in a game that turned into a Caleb Bonemer showcase. Bonemer went 2-for-3 with two homers and two walks, and his night was so loud that the Lookouts intentionally walked him in the ninth.
Alec Briley made them pay with a walk-off double. Boston Smith went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts, Anthony DePino was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and Colby Shelton finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Lucas Gordon struggled with command, working 4.1 innings while allowing three earned runs on four hits and six walks.
Brooklyn beat Winston-Salem 8-6, and Javier Mogollón was right in the middle of it. He homered, doubled, walked twice and struck out once.
Kyle Lodise also homered, walked and struck out twice in a 1-for-4 night, while Jeral Perez went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout. George Wolkow took the silver sombrero in an 0-for-5 outing.
On the mound, Seth Keener was tagged for four runs in one inning, while Max Banks threw a scoreless frame.
In the first half of a doubleheader, Salem topped Kannapolis 7-2 in seven innings. Matthew Boughton went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, Billy Carlson was 1-for-2 with a walk, Nick McLain went 2-for-3, and Alexander Albertus singled, walked and struck out.
Christian Gonzalez finished 0-for-3. Truman Pauley had a rough start, giving up seven earned runs in 3.1 innings on six hits, two homers, two hit batters and a wild pitch.
Kannapolis answered in Game 2, taking a 1-0 seven-inning win. Billy Carlson went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, while Matthew Boughton singled, walked, struck out and stole two bases.
Nick McLain was 0-for-3, Christian Gonzalez went 0-for-2 with a strikeout, and Alexander Albertus walked and struck out. Blaine Wynk delivered the cleanest line of the day, tossing three shutout innings with two strikeouts and no walks.
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