The White Sox haven't thrown a complete game at the major league level since Mike Clevinger in 2023, but David Sandlin went the distance for Charlotte on Saturday night.
Granted, it was only seven innings in the back half of a doubleheader with Memphis, but given that White Sox pitchers are struggling to go five, there's no real way to downplay Sandlin's final line: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, 65 of 91 pitches for strikes.
The Statcast data shows a guy who started 20 of 24 hitters with a strike, averaged 97 with his four-seamer but used his cutter an equal amount, got 16 whiffs on 51 swings, and allowed just two hard-hit balls out of the contact he yielded. The cutter was the only pitch that spent time in the middle of the zone, and it seemed like it still managed to stay off the barrel.
Sandlin is now 3-0 with a 2.28 ERA over 59⅓ innings, and while the peripherals are still kind of iffy, a 2.28 ERA while calling Truist Field home shows he's doing something right.
Charlotte 5, Memphis 4 (Game 1, 9 innings)
- Rikuu Nishida was 0-for-2 with a walk and a sac bunt.
- Kyle Teel caught seven innings and was 1-for-4 with three strikeouts.
- Ryan Galanie was 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Junior Pérez went 1-for-3 with a homer, walk and strikeout.
- Chris Murphy: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 18 of 25 pitches for strikes.
- Shane Smith: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 6 of 10 pitches for strikes.
Charlotte 2, Memphis 0 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-2 with a sac bunt.
- Edgar Quero, 1-for-3.
- David Sandlin went the distance: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, 65 of 91 pitches for strikes.
Rocket City 6, Birmingham 2
- Caleb Bonemer went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Anthony DePino, 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Colby Shelton, 1-for-4 with a K.
- Ryan Burrowes was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Samuel Zavala went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Lucas Gordon: 3.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 43 of 60 pitches for strikes.
Winston-Salem 10, Bowling Green 3
- Javier Mogollón was 0-for-3 with two walks and two strikeouts.
- Kyle Lodise went 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- George Wolkow, 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Jeral Perez was 2-for-5 with a homer.
- James Taussig also homered, part of a 2-for-4 night with a walk and a strikeout.
- Nick McLain, 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Grant Umberger: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 WP, 1 HBP
- Max Banks: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 58 of 84 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 7, Hill City 5
- Jaden Fauske went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Abraham Nunez went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks and a strikeout.
- Alexander Albertus, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Matthew Boughton entered as a pinch runner and scored.
