The Birmingham Barons closed out their season with a pair of wins against Knoxville, and while it wasn't good enough to make the Southern League Playoffs -- they finished two games behind Rocket City -- they did finish with a winning record in the second half at 35-34. In fact, every White Sox full-season affiliate should finish over .500 in the second half:
- Charlotte: 36-32
- Birmingham: 35-34
- Winston-Salem: 35-30
- Kannapolis: 38-28
The Charlotte Knights are the only unsettled matter, as they'll close out their season with a six-game series in Norfolk. Going 2-4 locks in a winning record for the second half, but even 1-5 would get them to .500.
As for the Barons, there were a couple of moments had a "last day of the season feel to them," both of which involved manager Pat Leyland. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Calvin Harris tagged up from second to third on Alec Briley's line drive to the gap, and seeing a lackadaisical, flat-footed throw from the outfield, Leyland waved his catcher home:
Alec Briley's teammates are trying to get him the RBI lead 😂. Cal Harris comes in to score from 2nd on a sac fly to RCF. 88 RBI for Briley. Catchers = Speed. 2-0 #Barons. pic.twitter.com/rmz7kEXBet
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) September 13, 2026
An inning later, Leyland was ejected protesting a well-known unfair sequence. Samuel Zavala broke the game open with a three-run homer off Yenrri Rojas,. the Barons' second blast of the inning. Jacob Burke came to the plate next, and Rojas threw high and tight, knocking Burke to the ground.
That caused the umpires to have a conversation, but they ultimately decided to warn both benches, and that caused Leyland to come marching out of the third-base coaching box, and he was ejected in seconds. He got his money's worth, and then his offseason started a two innings earlier than everybody else's.
Birmingham 7, Knoxville 0
- Caleb Bonemer went 2-for-3 with a walk.
- Colby Shelton was 2-for-3 with an HBP and a strikeout. He was also picked off/caught stealing.
- Ryan Burrowes, 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Samuel Zavala was 2-for-3 with a homer and a walk.
- Connor McCullough: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 42 of 65 pitches for strikes.
Winston-Salem 15, Greensboro 8
- Javier Mogollón went 1-for-4 with a homer and a walk.
- Kyle lodise, 1-for-4 with a walk.
- James Taussig was 1-for-3 with two walks.
- Jeral Perez, 1-for-4 with a sac fly.
- Nick McLain went 1-for-3 with a homer, two walks and a strikeout.
- Braden Holcomb went 0-for-5.
- Max Banks: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 12 of 21 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*Winston-Salem is up 1-0 in the South Atlantic League Championship Series
