The big news today came from a player participating in very likely his last game in Double-A: Braden Montgomery, South Side Sox’s No. 1 White Sox prospect, is joining the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on his way up to the South Side. Montgomery has been outstanding so far in 2026, slashing .313/.429/.606 and hitting six homers after putting up just 12 all of last season. Montgomery’s rise through the system has been swift: The former Boston first-rounder made his pro debut at Kannapolis in 2025, and traversed three levels (up to Double-A) over the course of the summer. His Spring Training work with the White Sox impressed, and it was somewhat surprising that he was reassigned to Birmingham to begin 2026. But he’s headed east to Charlotte now, and the countdown for his debut on the South Side — almost certainly to come later this year — is officially on.
Charlotte Knights 10, Gwinnett Stripers 9
The Knights (16-17) ended up splitting the series with the Stripers (20-13) after a walk-off win Sunday, 10-9, despite the Charlotte pitching being a little rough round the edges. Lefthander Hagen Smith slightly struggled through the first inning after loading the bases with all three of his walks on the day, and a two-run single marked the lone hit he gave up to give Gwinnett an early two-run lead. Smith settled in after that and was solid for his remaining pair of frames and ended up striking out three and was able to maintain a sub-3.00 ERA, now sitting at 2.82 after seven starts and 22 1/3 innings.
Charlotte’s bullpen also wasn’t on its A-game, and every pitcher who appeared on Sunday surrendered at least one run. Jonathan Cannon allowed the most runs out of the pen (three) in three innings of relief, and is sitting at a 11.85 ERA in 13 2/3 innings (four games) — woof. The Knights offense had taken a one-run lead in the bottom of the second with RBI doubles from Josh Breaux and Jacob Gonzalez — an exclamation point to Gonzalez’s three-hit day — but Gwinnett tied it up in the fourth and the arm barn fumbled the lead shortly thereafter.
That brings us to today’s hero: Korey Lee. Not only did Lee join Gonzalez in the three-hit club, but he capped off a five-run eighth inning with a solo homer to give Charlotte a one-run lead, 9-8. Unfortunately, Zach Franklin gave up a solo homer to Rowdy Tellez in the top of the ninth to tie the game at nine, blowing the save.
But Lee struck again in the bottom of the ninth, walking the game off on a bases loaded, line-drive single up the middle, 10-9, saving Franklin’s outing by gifting him the win.
Birmingham Barons 10, Chattanooga Lookouts 9
They didn’t take the same route there, but the Barons (13-14) and Lookouts (18-9) ended up with the same score as the Knights, with Birmingham outlasting first-place Chattanooga to win the series and their third in a row, 10-9. Two five-run innings for the Barons carried them through to the end, but the bullpen threatened to hand the lead over to the Lookouts.
For four innings, Connor McCullough shut Chattanooga down with just three hits, a walk, and two strikeouts, and the pen had started out strong with one clean inning but essentially spoiled his start.
The sixth inning, especially, was a complete mess. It took three pitchers to get out of the inning after the Lookouts dropped a six-spot to take a one-run lead. Lefthander Jacob Heatherly was responsible for four of the runs, only getting one out before being replaced by Eric Adler. Two more scored off of Adler, receiving the blown save after giving up the lead, also only recording one out before Chase Watkins came in to clean it up and get the third out. Watkins would end up with the win, thanks to the Birmingham hitters exploding for another five runs the very next inning, which set up Nick Altermatt for his first save of the season.
Before officially being promoted to the Triple-A Knights later in the day, Braden Montgomery was 1-for-4 with a run scored, finally making the jump to the next level with an outstanding 1.035 OPS to start the season. The RBI leader for today, however, Wilfred Veras after a three-run homer. And it was another forgotten prospect, Jacob Burke, who tallied three hits for the second day in a row (3-for-5) while driving in two.
Overall the Barons went 6-for-13 with RISP and left six on base, while outhitting the Lookouts, 9-7, and stealing three bases in four attempts.
Greensboro Grasshoppers 8, Winston-Salem Dash 6
The Dash (16-11) were outhit 12-9 by the Grasshoppers (16-11), and a rocky defense committing three errors that led to three unearned runs ended up being the difference in the W-S defeat. The loss was charged to righthander Jake Curtis after Greensboro tagged him for five runs on six hits, though just two of those runs were earned; the home run he gave up hurt a bit more and almost negated his six Ks. Winston-Salem’s bullpen performance wasn’t terrible and at least the final three runs were earned, but the two additional runs that Garrett Wright relinquished were the nail in the coffin for the Dash.
Both Kyle Lodise and Kaleb Freeman drove in a pair of runs each for the Winston-Salem offense, while Anthony DePino stayed hot at the plate with another multi-hit day. The Dash definitely had their chances to win, but went just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left a whopping 14 runners on base. Caleb Bonemer reached base four times, going 1-for-3 with three walks, and while his error didn’t cost a run this time around, he’s committed seven now this season. He’s fielding just .900 at third base, and .895 at short. Let’s get that glove worked in, Caleb!
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 7, Augusta GreenJackets 6
Luckily for the Cannon Ballers (10-17) bullpen, the bats sparked early with a four-run first inning and posted 12 hits on the day, providing much-needed run support to defeat the GreenJackets (14-13), 7-6. After a very slow start to the year, the Ballers have finally won a series and reached double-digit wins in 2026. When times are tough, it’s the little things …
Kannapolis rolled with a bullpen game Sunday, and lefthander Jackson Nove began the game with two scoreless innings while striking out three, but the next two relievers allowed six runs across the next five innings, including three homers that nearly blew the lead for the Ballers. Even though he surrendered four runs in his four innings of relief, Trey Cooper still was awarded a hold, and Jordan Morales secured the win after his final two scoreless innings.
The offense did just enough to maintain the lead, because as a team they were brutal with runners in scoring position (2-for-15), and left 10 runners in base. RBIs were scattered across six different players, but Javier Mogollón was excellent at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two doubles on the day, and was a menace on the basepaths with two stolen bases. Seven of the Dash’s 12 hits were for extra bases, including three solo homers, a triple,and three doubles, putting them in a solid position to win.
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