White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 23, 2026

In what had been fairly tepid pursuits of second-half postseason berths, the Birmingham Barons and Winston-Salem Dash both did what they could this past week to earn a spot on the playoffs, rather than sneaking in through a technicality.

The Barons pulled off a six-game sweep of the Chattanooga Lookouts on the road, which pushes them over .500 for the second half at 26-25. They're still in third place, but now they're only a game out of first:

Because Knoxville won the first half, the Barons only have to concern themselves with the Trash Pandas for a second-half postseason spot. Whether that means they have to finish first or second remains to be seen.

Winston-Salem also has to finish in second place as long as first-half champ Bowling Green remains atop the standings in the South Atlantic League North, but the Dash also did what they could to keep both paths available. By winning four of six against Greenville, they created two games of distance between their closest competitor. By winning the last three, they picked up three games on the Hot Rods, and are now only a game out of first.

The Dash took the series in emphatic fashion, entering the seventh inning of Sunday's game trailing 4-1, only to score 10 runs in the top of the seventh. They sent 14 batters to the plate, going single, double, single, walk, strikeout, single, single, walk, walk, single, walk, strikeout, single, strikeout.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 9, Charlotte 5

• Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
• Junior Pérez, 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Edgar Quero was 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Shane Smith: 4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, 44 of 82 pitches for strikes.
• Tanner McDougal: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 11 of 22 pitches for strikes.

Birmingham 4, Chattanooga 2

• Caleb Bonemer went 1-for-5.
• Anthony DePino was 2-for-5 with a double and two strikeouts.
• Colby Shelton, 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.
• Samuel Zavala was 1-for-2 with two walks.
• Lucas Gordon: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP, 29 of 50 pitches for strikes.
• Mathias LaCombe: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 2 HBP, 2 of 8 pitches for strikes.

Winston-Salem 12, Greenville 5

• Javier Mogollón was 2-for-5 with a walk, two strikeouts and two stolen bases.
• Kyle Lodise had the same line without the steals.
• George Wolkow was 1-for-6 with four strikeouts and a stolen base. Two of those strikeouts were during the seventh inning.
• Jeral Perez, 3-for-6 with a strikeout.
• Nick McLain was 2-for-3 with his first High-A homer and two walks.
• Grant Umberger: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 50 of 83 pitches for strikes.

Kannapolis 17, Fredericksburg 4

• Jaden Fauske went 1-for-3 with three walks and a strikeout.
• Matthew Boughton was 1-for-5 with two walks, two strikeouts and two stolen bases.
• Alexander Albertus was 3-for-4 with two walks.
• Christian Gonzalez, 2-for-4 with a double and two walks.

Notes:

*This was a 4-3 game until the top of the eighth, when the Cannon Ballers scored nine while sending 14 batters to the plate.