The Charlotte Knights would've been better off forfeiting to the Nashville Sounds, because forfeiting only results in a 9-0 score. Noah Schultz took the loss, but he wasn't really the issue. He allowed two runs over three innings, but the Charlotte defense allowed the Sounds to parlay a delayed steal of second into a double steal of home to take the lead, and they never looked back.
As for Schultz, he reinforced what White Sox pitching coordinator Matt Zaleski said to me this week -- allowing the knee to heal allowed Schultz to pump strikes in the way everybody had grown accustomed.
In fact, he probably spent too much time in the strike zone. He got only four whiffs on 48 pitches, and that's because there were few pitches that you'd call quality chase offerings, especially with his slider.
But this was still the version of Schultz that most closely resembled his Birmingham form, where he'd throw strikes primarily with his sinker and slider and let opponents hit him into trouble. They're more likely to accomplish that in Triple-A versus the Southern League, but with his other issues this year, opponent quality is not a variable he's been able to isolate.
Nashville 10, Charlotte 0
- Bryan Ramos was 0-for-4.
- Jacob Gonzalez, 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Noah Schultz: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 32 of 48 pitches for strikes
- Jairo Iriarte: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 9 of 16 pitches for strikes
- Tyler Gilbert: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 1 WP, 10 of 25 pitches for strikes
- Ben Peoples: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 14 of 22 pitches for strikes
Notes:
*Mario Camilletti had both of Charlotte's hits.
Knoxville 4, Birmingham 2
- Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-4 with a triple and a strikeout.
- William Bergolla was 1-for-4 with two stolen bases.
- Sam Antonacci was 0-for-3 with a sac fly and two strikeouts.
- Wilfred Veras singled twice, struck out twice and was caught stealing.
- Braden Montgomery went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Hagen Smith: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 1 HBP, 41 of 66 pitches for strikes.
Rome 7, Winston-Salem 6 (10 innings)
- Samuel Zavala went 1-for-5.
- Jeral Perez was 1-for-4 with a double.
- Kyle Lodise, 0-for-3 with two walks.
- Caleb Bonemer went 0-for-4 with a stolen base.
- Ryan Burrowes, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Aldrin Batista: 1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 22 of 37 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 9, Salem 6
- George Wolkow was 2-for-5 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
- Ely Brown, 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.
- Anthony DePino went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Rylan Galvin walked once, got plunked once and struck out thrice.
- Kaleb Freeman drew a walk and scored as a midgame replacement.
- Mathias LaCombe: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 27 of 51 pitches for strikes.
- Pierce George: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 16 of 36 pitches for strikes.
