White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 10, 2025

As Alec Makarewicz was finishing up a July that won him the White Sox's Player of the Month honor, he was also entering a slump. He finished July 1-for-10, followed by an 0-for-12 showing over the first four games of August, which took away 50 points of OPS that he'd gained over the course of his award-winning performance.

But maybe he's just streaky. He broke out of his slump in Bowling Green with homers in three of the last four games, which covers both games I drove up to catch. None of them were cheap, including his three-run shot off Gary Gill Hill (who owns maybe my current favorite baseball name):

Charlotte 5, Syracuse 1

• Will Robertson went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
• Tim Elko was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Jacob Gonzalez, 1-for-2 with two walks.
• Bryan Ramos entered as a pinch hitter, going 1-for-2 with a stolen base.
• Duncan Davitt: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 2 HBP, 47 of 70 pitches for strikes.
• Ben Peoples: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 12 of 15 pitches for strikes.

Chattanooga 1, Birmingham 0

• Rikuu Nishida was 2-for-3, but was caught stealing.
• William Bergolla, 0-for-4.
• Sam Antonacci went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Wilfred Veras wore the collar and silver sombrero.
• Braden Montgomery was 2-for-4 with a double; he also struck out and was caught stealing.
• DJ Gladney, 1-for-4 with a K.
• Shane Murphy: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 43 of 60 pitches for strikes.

Notes:

*Murphy's run was unearned due to a throwing error by DJ Gladney, who was playing first base in Ryan Galanie's stead. Turns out he's both the key to the offense and the defense.

Bowling Green 9, Winston-Salem 5

• Samuel Zavala went 3-for-4.
• Jeral Perez was 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout.
• Alec Makarewicz went 2-for-4 with his third homer in four games.
• Kyle Lodise, 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
• Ryan Burrowes went 0-for-4.
• Seth Keener: 1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 15 of 28 pitches for strikes.

Salem 8, Kannapolis 7

• Caleb Bonemer was 1-for-2 in his only two trips.
• Anthony DePino replaced him, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
• Ronny Hernandez was 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts.
• George Wolkow, 0-for-3 with two walks, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
• Colby Shelton went 0-for-4.
• Adrian Gíl was 0-for-2 with two walks, and 1-for-2 on the basepaths.
• Ely Brown, 1-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
• Grant Umberger: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Pierce George's first rough outing in a long time came at a bad time: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 11 of 22 pitches for strikes, and a blown save.