Does one blowout win balance out three close losses?
Norfolk Tides 3, Charlotte Knights 2 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Despite getting an early jump on the Tides, the Knights couldn’t take home the win. Greg Jones Jr., Edgar Quero, Andre Lipcius, and Dominic Fletcher recorded the only four hits in the game, and Jones and Fletcher were the only players to score. Outside of those four, the offense was weak. The Knights struck out 11 times against the Tides during their second stagnant game of the season.
Charlotte pitchers didn’t make too many mistakes, despite the little run support they got. Jairo Iriarte allowed all three earned runs in his four innings pitched, throwing a fairly inefficient 85 pitches. Trey McGough and Eric Adler finished the night with five scoreless innings and four strikeouts, but their performance was undermined by the lack of offensive production.
Knoxville Smokies 6, Birmingham Barons 4 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Birmingham started strong but fizzled out rapidly. The Barons answered Knoxville’s first run with four runs of their own in the bottom of the first, but that turned out to be the most eventful inning of the game. Six of the Barons’ nine hits came in the first three innings of the game, and half of their total hits came from Omar Narváez and Oscar Colás alone.
Hagen Smith started strong for the Barons, striking out 10 batters in his four innings while allowing his only earned run off a wild pitch. But when it got late into the game, Birmingham allowed the Smokies to win off the small ball. Jarold Rosado gave up a two-run double to put the Smokies a run back from the Barons, and two doubles off Tyler Davis allowed the Smokies to score the go-ahead run.
Winston-Salem Dash 16, Rome Emperors 6 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
The Dash’s high-scoring victory was a team effort. Although Winston-Salem fell behind early, they made a mighty effort to reclaim the lead in the fourth inning thanks to Cole McConnell’s two-run RBI double — his first career MiLB hit. Sam Attonacci’s single, Ryan Galanie’s sacrifice fly, and Caden Connor’s single quickly gave the Dash a 6-3 lead.
Cole McConnell makes his first MiLB hit! pic.twitter.com/BvIPWpWXoP
— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) April 5, 2025
The rest was history, as Winston-Salem only extended their lead as the game went on.
While the pitching got dicey at times, everything turned out fine. Lucas Gordon held on for four full innings, allowing three earned runs and five hits while trying to keep the Dash in the game. Relievers Luke Bell and Mark McLaughlin didn’t help by giving up three earned runs in their three innings, but Madison Jeffrey and Shane Murphy’s scoreless outings helped secure the Dash’s first win of the season.
Hickory Crawdads 6, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
In a close loss to Hickory, Kannapolis fell just short of making a comeback. Braden Montgomery’s two-run homer in the first inning got the game started with a bang, but the Cannon Ballers were shut out from the second to the eighth inning. It wasn’t until the bottom of the eighth that Kannapolis scored again, off a wild pitch. They had a chance to tie the game with Montgomery (walk, steal, wild pitch advance) on third and one out, but a ground out and strikeout ended the momentum.
Overall the Kannapolis pitching had a tough game. Even though they limited the Crawdads to single-digit hits, the two home runs given were costly for the CBs. The pitching never got blown out of proportion, but it also never showed lengthy stretches of fortitude.