It was a 2-2 day on the farm, with the Barons and Cannon Ballers coming out victorious. The Cannon Ballers had a strong all-around performance from start to finish, while the Barons pulled off one of the more improbable comebacks we will see.

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 3, Charlotte Knights 2 (Gameday box) (Statcast box)
Despite a strong all-around pitching performance, the Knights came up short against the Jumbo Shrimp.

Knights starter Johan Domínguez had a decent start, but he ran into trouble in the second inning. With runners on first and second with two outs, Domínguez allowed an RBI single, he hit a batter, and he walked in a run to make the score 2-0.

The Knights got those two runs back immediately, scoring a pair in the top of the third. Wynton Bernard led off the inning by launching a solo homer to cut Charlotte’s deficit in half (Bernard’s solid performance tonight increased his OPS to .774). With one out, Mark Payton doubled, and two batters later, Oscar Colás drove him in with a double of his own. That tied the game at two, and both offenses went cold for a while.

Matt Foster pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and Deivi García took over in the seventh without any trouble. However, the eighth inning was not so easy for García, who hit a batter before allowing an RBI triple. That allowed the Jumbo Shrimp to take a 3-2 lead, and the score remained that way for the rest of the game.

GAME MVP
Oscar Colás (RF) 3-for-4, 2B, RBI, 1 SB (0 CS)

RUNNERS-UP
Wynton Bernard (LF) 2-for-4, HR
Johan Domínguez (RHSP) 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 1 K
Matt Foster (RHRP) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Birmingham Barons 8, Rocket City Trash Pandas 7 (Gameday box)
In one of the more shocking finishes of the season, the Barons came back from the dead to stun the Trash Pandas with a seven-run ninth inning.

Barons starter Jake Eder (5 IP, 5 R/4 ER, 9 H, 3 BB, 3 K) did not have his best stuff on the mound. The Trash Pandas came out ready to swing the bat, and they had a lot of success early on in the game. After five innings, the Trash Pandas had a 5-1 lead, with the Barons scoring their only run on a solo blast by Tim Elko.

Reliever Tristan Stivors (1 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K) also struggled for the Barons. Stivors allowed an RBI double in the sixth and a solo homer in the seventh, and Rocket City had a 7-1 lead after that. Relievers Gil Luna and Eric Adler pitched very well, but it appeared that it would be too little, too late.

Then, the bottom of the ninth happened. Wilfred Veras and Michael Turner led off the frame with back-to-back singles, and Tyler Neslony drew a walk to load the bases. Jason Matthews got hit by a pitch to force in a run, and Matt Hogan, last week’s Player of the Week, hit a ground-rule double to make it 7-4. Pinch-hitter Edgar Quero drove in a pair with a single, and Jacob Gonzalez doubled to put himself in scoring position as the potential winning run. That set the stage for Brooks Baldwin, who lined a single to left to walk it off.

Every hit from the Barons 7-run, bottom of the 9th, comeback tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/aYIv1xKhS9

— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) July 4, 2024

GAME MVP
Tim Elko (1B) 2-for-4, HR

RUNNERS-UP
Jacob Gonzalez (SS) 1-for-3, 2B, 2 BB
Matt Hogan (CF) 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Wilfred Veras (LF) 2-for-4
Brooks Baldwin (DH) 1-for-5, 2 RBI, walk-off single
Gil Luna (LHRP) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Eric Adler (RHRP) 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Hickory Crawdads 5, Winston-Salem Dash 1 (Gameday box)
The Dash offense had a rough day, only scoring one run on four hits, so the Crawdads came out on top in Hickory.

Dash starter Shane Murphy (5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 6 K) racked up quite a few strikeouts without issuing any walks. However, he gave up three home runs, and those blasts were more than enough for the Crawdads to win. All of those homers were of the solo variety, but the Dash just did not have answers for Hickory pitching.

Winston-Salem remained off the scoreboard until the top of the eighth, when Wes Kath led off with a double. After a ground out by Jordan Sprinkle, Kath advanced to third, and he scored on an RBI single by Samuel Zavala. That was the first and last run for the Dash.

GAME MVP
Billy Seidl (RHRP) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K

RUNNERS-UP
Wes Kath (3B) 1-for-3, 2B
Samuel Zavala (CF) 1-for-3, RBI
Mario Camilletti (DH) 1-for-3

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 7, Fayetteville Woodpeckers 2 (Gameday box)
The Cannon Ballers put a pair of crooked numbers on the scoreboard en route to a convincing victory over the Woodpeckers.

Albertson Asigen led off the top of the third with a double, and with one out, Rikuu Nishida singled to put runners on the corners. Of course, Nishida stole second base, which was his first of three stolen bases of the day. Caden Connor drove in a pair with a single, and Arxy Hernández hit an RBI double for the last run of the inning, but that was not the last three-run inning for the Cannon Ballers.

In the fifth, Wilber Sánchez drew a leadoff walk, and he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Nishida drew a walk, and after an unusual double-steal attempt, Nishida was surprisingly caught stealing second. However, Sánchez was safe at third, and Mikey Kane launched a two-run homer to make the score 5-0. Later in the inning, Connor singled, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by Ronny Hernández.

Meanwhile, Cannon Ballers starter Aldrin Batista had a great day, finishing with five shutout innings to lower his season ERA to 3.06. Batista only allowed two hits, and both of those were singles. He also racked up seven strikeouts.

The Woodpeckers finally got on the board with a pair on a single against reliever Tyler Davis. However, those were the only two runs of the game for Fayetteville.

GAME MVP
Aldrin Batista (RHSP) 5 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K

RUNNERS-UP
Rikuu Nishida (LF) 3-for-4, BB, 3 SB (1 CS)
Mikey Kane (2B) 2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI
Caden Connor (1B) 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 1 SB (0 CS)
Ronny Hernández (C) 3-for-5, RBI
Albertson Asigen (CF) 1-for-2, 2B, BB, HBP
Jesús Mendez (RHRP) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 0 K

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Lead photo credit: S.R. Silver/Sox Populi