White Sox Minor Keys: April 21, 2018
Following up on Friday night’s keys, Michael Kopech may have had one of those moments where he lost a composure point.
Kevan Newman scored his third and final run by singling and getting bunted over to second. After that, Kopech handed him the other 180 feet with a balk and a wild pitch. The balk was the result of getting crossed up with Kevan Smith, and he compounded matters.
“I immediately knew I balked, I was just hoping they didn’t see it,” Kopech said. “Clearly they did. I messed up there. I think the next pitch was an anger pitch. I threw it away and the guy scores. I can’t allow that to happen either. I have to do better.”
That’s from James Fegan’s article, which paints a picture of a guy who already knows he can dominate just about any single plate appearance, but is trying to put it all together for a six- or seven-inning product.
Indianapolis 7, Charlotte 2
- Charlie Tilson went 1-for-4.
- Daniel Palka was 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Casey Gillaspie was 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
Birmingham 2, Pensacola 1
- The Barons only had two hits, but they were solo homers by Seby Zavala (1-for-4, K) and Danny Mendick (1-for-3, 2 Ks).
- Tito Polo went 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
- Jameson Fisher and Eloy Jimenez were 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Ian Hamilton: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Winston-Salem 4, Salem 3
- Joel Booker went 0-for-4 with a walk.
- Alex Call capped the Dash’s three-run ninth with a walk-off squeeze bunt. He went 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Luis Alexander Basabe went 1-for-3 with a double, walk and strikeout.
- Micker Adolfo wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Gavin Sheets went 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Yermin Mercedes went 2-for-4.
- Ti’Quan Forbes went 2-for-4 with a triple and strikeout.
- Dane Dunning: 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 1 HR
Kannapolis 7, Greenville 0
- Luis Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with a homer and a walk.
- Justin Yurchak was 2-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
- Evan Skoug, 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Carlos Perez was 1-for-3 with a triple.
- Kade McClure: 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K
Author
Nice one McClure!! And Dunning, your Birmingham table is ready.
What was interesting was that, in addition to the game-winning suicide squeeze Winston-Salem executed, Birmingham attempted the same play about 5 minutes earlier.
Polo was on 3rd with 2 outs and Fisher got a good bunt down. Polo scored, but the ump called Fisher out at first, even though the replay showed that Fisher probably beat the throw.
So we had two clubs execute a suicide within 5 minutes of each other and, barring a missed call, both were successful.
Josh Nelson favorite Seby continues to crush the ball. Any recent reports that think he can actually be a catcher?
Conventional wisdom is that he’s good enough to at least be a backup.