It's safe to say Christian Oppor needed a start like he had against the Columbus Clingstones on Saturday night.
Oppor entered his fourth start of the season with a 12.91 ERA, and every bit of it was earned. He'd walked 13 batters and hit two others over the course of his first 7⅔ innings, which left him little room to allow the nine hits and one homer on his tab. Even at the start of his professional career, when the White Sox drafted him out of junior college and he had little idea what he was doing, he hadn't experienced such issues throwing strikes.
He righted the ship against Columbus though, with a solo homer the only damage over four innings. The line looks foreign on his 2026 game log...
| Date | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K | Pit-Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 8 | 2.2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 70-37 |
| April 14 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 62-26 |
| April 19 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 61-30 |
| April 26 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 62-38 |
... but the idea is that by the end of the season, the wonky beginning will stand out as the aberration.
Nashville 12, Charlotte 5 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Jarred Kelenic was 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Austin Hays began his rehab stint at DH, going 1-for-4 with a homer.
- Jacob Gonzalez singled and struck out thrice.
- Rikuu Nishida was 1-for-3.
- Chris Murphy: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP, 1 WP, 11 of 22 pitches for strikes.
Charlotte 16, Nashville 6 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Jarred Kelenic was 1-for-3 with a double, two walks and a strikeout.
- Jacob Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with a strikeout and an HBP.
- Rikuu Nishda, 2-for-4.
- Riley Gowens: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 31 of 48 pitches for strikes.
Columbus 6, Birmingham 4
- Samuel Zavala wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Braden Montgomery struck out twice during his 0-for-4 night.
- Jeral Perez went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Christian Oppor: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 38 of 62 pitches for strikes.
Charleston 5, Kannapolis 2
- Abraham Nuñez singled twice, struck out twice and stole a base.
- Matthew Boughton went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
- Jaden Fauske singled and struck out thrice.
- Javier Mogollón, 1-for-4 wiht a double.
- Adrian Gíl made his first appearance of the year, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
