White Sox minor leaguers had a mixed July 9, with Charlotte delivering the loudest performance and Birmingham and the ACL club running into rough nights.
Charlotte handled Nashville 9-2 behind a big first inning and a steady finish from the pitching staff. Jonathan Cannon, a familiar name, started for the Knights and gave up a run right away in the first after a pair of doubles.
Charlotte answered in a hurry, putting up six runs in the bottom half and doing it with power. Nate Jones launched a three-run homer, Andy Weber added a two-run blast, and Riley Unroe chipped in a solo shot.
Unroe wasn’t finished there. He went deep again in the fifth with a two-run homer, and Charlotte added another run in the sixth when Rikuu Nishida doubled and Michael Turner followed with a single.
Cannon worked five innings and allowed two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four. Tanner McDougal handled a clean inning with a strikeout, and Duncan Davitt finished the job with three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out five.
Birmingham’s night was much tougher in a 7-1 loss to Columbus. The Barons put runners on, but never found the big hit, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Their only run came from Caleb Bonemer, who hit his 22nd home run of the year in the fifth.
Connor McCullough gave Birmingham a strong start, throwing four hitless, scoreless innings while walking three and striking out seven. After that, the game slipped away. Jackson Kelly allowed a two-run homer in the sixth, and Pierce George was charged with five runs in the seventh while recording just one out.
Winston-Salem looked in control for a while against Asheville, but the Dash couldn’t hold on in a 5-4 loss. They jumped ahead 4-0 by the end of the fourth.
Ryan Burrowes singled in the first, Tim Elko reached on a walk during his rehab assignment, and George Wolkow drove in Burrowes with a hit. Alex Ungar opened the second with a solo homer for a 2-0 lead.
In the third, the Dash added another run after a hit and three walks, and in the fourth Burrowes walked, stole second, moved to third on a grounder, and scored on a Jeral Perez RBI single.
Asheville flipped the game with two runs in the fourth, then two more unearned runs in the fifth. The score stayed there until the seventh, when the Tourists drew four walks and pushed across the winning run.
Kannapolis did not play, as its game was postponed because of the weather.
At the ACL level, the Padres beat the ACL White Sox 9-1 in seven innings. Chicago’s affiliate scattered singles but never found a timely one.
Its only run came together on a single, a wild pitch, a stolen base, and a passed ball. Kendry Garcia had a short start and did not get out of the first inning, allowing four runs while recording one out.
The DSL White Sox also saw their game postponed because of lightning.
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For the White Sox, the discussion is less about whether they would like the pitcher and more about how much of the system theyd be willing to part with. The suggested package reaches into the lower half of Chicagos prospect list, and that is where the debate gets interesting, because deals like this usually hinge on whether a front office sees enough upside to justify giving up multiple young players for a name with plenty of value questions attached. [Read more 🡒]