Record
2-4 (last week)
56-45 (overall)
15-20 (second half)

Your South Division First Half Champs kicked off the week with a six-game set at home against the Salem Red Sox, who are fourth in the North Division. The highlight of the week for the Ballers came on Thursday, when they hammered the Red Sox for 15 runs on 18 hits in a mighty victory.

July 30: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2, Salem Red Sox 1
Tuesday’s rain-shortened game was all about the pitching. Ricardo Brizuela tossed 3 2/3 innings and gave up one run on five hits while striking out three. The organization promoted the 6´3´´ righty from the ACL White Sox on July 5. After stumbling out of the gate with a stinker on July 6, where he gave up eight runs on 11 hits over five innings, Brizuela has performed well in his last three starts. Carson Jacobs earned his first save and struck out the side in his one inning of work in the sixth.

On the offensive side, Ryan Burrowes (2-for-2) had a big RBI triple, and 18-year-old Chicagoland native George Wolkow continued to hold his own by driving in a run on a sacrifice fly. Unfortunately, the defense made three errors, but luckily, they didn’t lead to any unearned runs.

Game MVP
Ryan Burrowes (SS): 2-for-2, triple, RBI, R, BB

July 31: Salem Red Sox 3, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2
On Wednesday afternoon, the Red Sox flipped the script on the Ballers, stealing the win in another tight matchup. Starter Tanner McDougal was fantastic, surrendering no runs on two hits with eight strikeouts over five innings. The White Sox selected the 21-year-old in Round 5 of the 2021 MLB Draft. It was McDougals first start back in Kannapolis, as he started the 2024 season in High-A with Winston-Salem and struggled a bit (-2.1 age difference) with a 0-8 record and a 6.85 ERA. Hopefully, some time within the lower level will help him work on his pitches and confidence.

Reliever Luke Bell took the loss and the blown save by giving up two runs on a walk, triple, and single in the ninth. After being almost unhittable in June with a 0.59 ERA over nine appearances, the righthander has fallen back to earth in July. The Arizona Diamondbacks initially selected Bell in Round 34 (No. 1,022) of the 2019 MLB Draft, and the Sox signed him as a free agent last July.

The game stayed scoreless until Salem struck first on a solo shot by Nazzan Zanetello in the top sixth. The Ballers tied it up on an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh when Ronny Hernandez (2-for-4) came home on a wild pitch. Kanny scored another unearned run in the eighth, taking the lead, which would be short-lived when Bell tumbled in the ninth.

Game MVP
Tanner McDougal (RHSP): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K

August 1: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 15, Salem Red Sox 4
You could call this one an old-fashioned butt-kicking, as Kanny absolutely walloped Salem! Surprisingly, it was the bottom of the order that had it all dialed in. Batters six through nine were responsible for 14 of the 18 hits, including homers by Drake Logan (3-for-4, 4 RBI) and Álvaro Agüero (3-for-5, 3 RBI).

Luis Pineda got the ball rolling with a leadoff triple in the bottom of the third and was driven home on a single by Mason Dinesen, giving the Ballers an early 1-0 lead. They scored another tally in the fifth on Agüero’s round-tripper, but the real action was in the sixth inning. Kannapolis hammered their opponents for five runs with four singles, two walks, and a catcher’s interference call. Once the offense stepped on the gas, they didn’t let up, scoring four runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth.

Righthander Aldrin Batista had a solid start, tossing five innings and giving up two earned runs. Although the 21-year-old didn’t get the victory, he’s been a solid pitcher this season, going 8-4 with a 3.51 ERA with an impressive 9.25 K/9 and 3.51 BB/9. Batista came over to the White Sox organization last August from the Los Angeles Dodgers along with Máximo Martinez in exchange for international bonus pool money.

Game MVP
Mason Dinesen (1B): 4-for-5, 2 RBI, 3 R

August 1-2: Salem Red Sox 6, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5 (10 innings)

Rain suspended Friday’s scoreless contest with two outs in the top of the fourth. They continued play on Saturday afternoon with a twin bill, but strangely enough, Game 2 was also postponed due to rain. So they played the remainder of that one on Sunday morning — a bit of a crazy weather week in North Carolina.

This was a close one throughout. Salem scored three runs off Connery Peters, who started the game on Saturday post-rain delay. Chicago signed Peters as a free agent last July. The Dodgers initially selected the 24-year-old in Round 38 of the 2018 MLB Draft. He had fantastic months in June and July after getting off to a rocky start, but he couldn’t hold it together in this one.

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, the Ballers plated two tallies on three hits, including a triple by Drake Logan, to tie the contest 3-3 and force extras.

Reliever Patrick Maybach pitched a clean ninth but got into trouble in the 10th, surrendering three runs to the Red Sox, giving them a comfy 6-3 lead. The Ballers managed to score two runs in their half of the frame but ultimately fell short.

Game MVP
Drake Logan (LF): 2-for-4, RBI, R

August 2-3: Salem Red Sox 5, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2 (seven innings)
Ballers starter Frankeli Arias took the loss in this one as the southpaw continued his rollercoaster season. The 21-year-old has had an up-and-down one in 2024, as he gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits over four innings. Relievers Jesús Méndez and Daniel González each surrendered one run in their appearances as well.

There wasn’t much on the offense side to help the pitching out, either. Logan’s solo bomb, his second of the week, and Ronny Hernandez’s RBI single were all she wrote. The defense was also ugly, with the Ballers making three lousy plays, including Arias not helping himself with a bad pickoff throw. This was definitely a game to flush.

Game MVP
Drake Logan (LF): 1-for-2, HR, RBI, R

August 3: Salem Red Sox 4, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3 (seven innings)
Ricardo Brizuela tossed a gem, but the Ballers pen couldn’t hold it for him. In one of his best games of the year, the righthander gave up no runs on two hits with eight strikeouts over five innings. All four Red Sox runs came off Mark McLaughlin in the sixth inning, where he only recorded two outs. McLaughlin had been throwing well out of the pen over his last four appearances, holding opponents scoreless, but today Salem had his number.

Kanny broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth when Wolkow, who walked, came around to score on a single by Logan. After Salem scored four in the top of the sixth, the Ballers battled back with two in the bottom of the seventh after a Mason Dinesen two-run blast, but they came up short again. Up next, Kannapolis heads to South Carolina on Tuesday for a six-game set with the Fireflies.

Game MVP
Ricardo Brizuela (RHSP): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Seven-Day Hitting

Seven-Day Pitching

Please support our White Sox writing and podcasts by clicking our Patreon link.

Drake Logan photo by Krista Jasso/Kannapolis Cannon Ballers