The Charlotte Knights have had to scramble for pitchers at various points this season, but the situation has never grown as dire as the point the Salt Lake Bees reached on Sunday.
The Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels entered the ninth inning of their game on Sunday against the El Paso Chihuahuas with a 6-5 lead, at which point manager Keith Johnson gave the ball to ... Yolmer Sánchez.
When I looked at the box score, I expected to see eight pitchers used over the first eight innings, but the Salt Lake side of the box score looks rather controlled, with four pitchers throwing two innings apiece. Nevertheless, their roster was compromised enough by MLB callups that they needed Sánchez to try closing it out.
He almost did it, retiring the first two batters on groundouts. Then ...
- Single
- Single
- Walk
- Single
- Double
- Single
... and by the time Sánchez recorded the third out, the Bees trailed 10-6.
Sánchez, 33, is finishing his third straight full season in Triple-A, as he hasn't been in the majors since seeing time with the Red Sox and Mets in 2022. He's hitting .248/.353/.334, and is now 0-1 with a 33.75 ERA this season.
Charlotte 9, Jacksonville 7
- Tim Elko, who wears No. 25, was 2-for-5 with his 25th homer. He also struck out, which doesn't fit the theme.
- Jacob Gonzalez was 1-for-4.
- Duncan Davitt: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 51 of 92 pitches for strikes.
- Jairo Iriarte: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 14 of 22 pitches for strikes.
Birmingham 2, Chattanooga 1
- Rikuu Nishida was 1-for-4 with a sac bunt.
- Sam Antonacci went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Ryan Galanie, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Wilfred Veras was 1-for-2 with two HBPs.
- Riley Gowens: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 1 HBP, 57 of 84 pitches for strikes.
Winston-Salem 13, Greenville 2 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Samuel Zavala was 0-for-3 with a sac fly, HBP, strikeout and stolen base.
- Jeral Perez, 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Kyle Lodise went 1-for-3 with a homer and a walk.
- Caleb Bonemer was 1-for-4.
- Ryan Burrowes went 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Lyle Miller-Gredn was 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- T.J. McCants doubled twice, singled, struck out and stole a base.
- Christian Oppor: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 52 of 82 pitches for strikes.
Greenville 9, Winston-Salem 1 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Samuel Zavala was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
- Ryan Burrowes, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. He was also caught stealing.
- Kyle Lodise went 1-for-2 with two walks anda. stolen base.
- Caleb Bonemer, 0-for-2 with a walk, HBP and strikeout.
- T.J. McCants went 1-for-2 with a walk and two stolen bases.
- Lyle Miller-Green walked twice and struck out once.
- Aldrin Batista: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 16 of 21 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*Winston-Salem finishes the season 56-74.
Augusta 10, Kannapolis 0
- Ely Brown was 0-for-3 with a walk, strikeout and stolen base.
- George Wolkow went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Anthony DePino had the lone Kannapolis hit, finishing 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Kaleb Freeman was 0-for-2 with two walks.
Notes:
*Kannapolis finishes the season 64-68.
