Pitching set the tone across the White Sox farm system on Friday, with David Sandlin, Grant Umberger and Fabian Ysalla combining to give up just four earned runs over 16.1 innings while striking out 20. Sandlin led the way with a career night in Triple-A, the Dash locked up a playoff berth, and the Cannon Ballers held off a late charge to squeeze out a one-run win.
At Triple-A Charlotte, Sandlin was electric in a 9-3 win over the Knights. The right-hander struck out a career-high 11 over 5.2 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits and a walk. It was the latest strong outing in a stretch that has seen him give up one earned run or fewer in three of his last four Triple-A starts.
Charlotte backed him with plenty of offense. Joey Wiemer and Caden Connor each homered, while Michael Turner doubled twice.
Connor’s blast was a three-run shot that helped blow the game open, and Wiemer later added another two-run swing. Junior Perez also chipped in with three runs, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base.
The Knights’ lineup kept pressure on throughout the night. Edgar Quero finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and two walks, Ryan Galanie went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Andy Weber scored a run and drew a walk. Jairo Iriarte worked 1.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts, and Jaden Woods added a scoreless frame of his own.
In Winston-Salem, the Dash punched their ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2018 with an 8-2 win over the Rome Emperors. Grant Umberger delivered a quality start, going six innings and allowing two earned runs while striking out five.
The big bats showed up behind him. Nick McLain and Rylan Galvan went back-to-back, and George Wolkow drove in three runs while finishing with two hits.
McLain went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer, a run, an RBI and a walk, while Galvan was 1-for-4 with a homer, a run and an RBI. Wolkow added a double, a run and a hit by pitch.
Javier Mogollon also had a strong night, going 2-for-5 with a double, two runs and a stolen base, and Jeral Perez finished 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Jake Curtis closed it out with three scoreless innings and five strikeouts to finish off the win.
At Single-A Kannapolis, the Cannon Ballers survived a late push from the Delmarva Shorebirds in a 5-4 victory. The Ballers ran wild on the bases, stealing six bags in all, including two each from Jaden Fauske and Abraham Nunez.
Jake Berkland came through with a pair of hits and RBIs, while Efren Teran went 3-for-4. Stiven Flores drove in a run, Alexander Albertus added two hits, and Clay Burdette scored a run, walked three times and stole a base. Fauske scored once and drew two walks, and Nunez added an RBI and a walk to go with his two steals.
Fabian Ysalla started and allowed one earned run over 4.2 innings, striking out four. Andrew Berg picked up the win with 1.1 scoreless innings, and Daniel Wright nailed down the save with a scoreless ninth.
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