*** Chicago White Sox Minor League Report - July 26th *** From The Sports Network

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS - With three straight wins, and victory in five of their first six games last week, the Knights had a very successful stretch with a record of 5-2 against the rest of the International League. Charlotte is now three games under .500 with a record of 50-53 in the South Division, good enough for third place, 7 1/2 games off the pace set by Richmond at the moment. The pitching staff really held it together for the Knights, striking out 48 batters while issuing only 13 walks. Hurler Felix Diaz started two games and came away with a record of 1-0 and a 2.57 ERA. He also struck out 12 in 14 innings of work while allowing opponents to hit just .250. Bryant Nelson hit .345 for the group, plating five and scoring five runs himself.

BIRMINGHAM BARONS - Scott Bikowski's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning lifted the Birmingham Barons over the Huntsville Stars, 2-1, on July 24th in Alabama. With the dramatic win, the Barons produced a record of 16-12 in the West Division of the Southern League, tying them with the Stars for first place. The victory also snapped a two-game slide for Birmingham, which finished last week an even 3-3. The team was up and down to say the least, topping West Tennessee on July 19th by a score of 11-4, but then getting tripped up by the same team three days later, 13-2. The Barons were less than accurate at the plate, hitting just .230 over the six games, and had their troubles in the field as well with a league-high 10 errors. Nate Murphy cranked three home runs on just seven hits, recording seven RBI and four runs scored in the five games in which he appeared. Pitcher Brian McNichol grabbed a pair of victories in relief as he held opponents to a batting average of just .056 over 5 1/3 innings.

WINSTON-SALEM WARTHOGS - The Warthogs logged three straight wins to start the week on July 19th and ended with five in seven outings after topping Myrtle Beach at home on July 25th by a score of 6-2. Winston-Salem, which held the Pelicans to just four hits on Sunday, is now just a game out of first place in the Southern Division of the Carolina League with a record of 17-12. The Warthogs had the highest batting average of any team in the league last week at .312, while the pitching staff limited opponents by striking them out 50 times, against 17 walks. Brian Becker had four hits, two of them home runs, in the four games in which he appeared but finished with just three RBI. Thomas Brice (.387) had a total of 12 hits and plated eight in the process. Casey Rogowski struggled at the dish as he fanned eight times and batted only .172 overall during the week. Pitcher Jose Espinal won both of his decisions as he held opponents to a .214 batting average over 7 1/3 innings. On July 23rd the Warthogs added pitchers Frazier Dizard and Brad Murray, along with infielder Tommy Nicholson to the roster, while sending Nik Lubisich to Double-A Birmingham.

KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS - The Intimidators finished with just a pair of blemishes on their record from last week, an 8-1 defeat at the hands of Lexington on July 19th and a 5-2 setback versus Hickory four days later on the road. Otherwise it was one win after another for the squad, which finished up with a 4-2 triumph over the Legends on July 25th. With the victory Kannapolis moved into a tie with the Crawdads for first place in the Northern Division of the South Atlantic League with a record of 19-11 to start the second half of the campaign. The Intimidators were tied for second in the league over the last week with 10 home runs (league leader Charleston-SC had 11 but in nine games) helping to give the team the highest slugging percentage in the SAL at .494. Chris Young was one of three players with multiple home runs, knocking out three to offset his 10 strikeouts. He also scored eight times, but had just four RBI in seven games. Pitcher Daniel Haigwood posted wins in both his starts, striking out 10 in 11 innings of work. Another hurler, Wesley Whisler, was named the BC Powder Pitcher of the Week on July 22nd, after making just his third professional start last week.

BRISTOL WHITE SOX - After scoring eight runs over the first three innings in their game with Elizabethton on July 25th, the White Sox snapped what had become a seven-game losing streak, even though the game was suspended at that point. Due to the lack of offense the White Sox are now all alone at the bottom of the standings in the West Division of the Appalachian League with a record of just 11-22, the worst mark of any team in the league in fact. The squad had the worst batting average last week at .175 and their fielding was also quite suspect with 16 errors. Javier Castillo hot .400 and knocked in five runs for the group, although he was also guilty of five miscues with the glove. Jose De Los Santos (.125) had a total of three hits in 24 at-bats, yet led the club with six RBI. Pitcher Charlie Haeger started two games for Bristol and was saddled with losses in each, surrendering eight earned runs and walking five in a total of 12 innings pitched.

GREAT FALLS WHITE SOX - The White Sox took a great fall on July 25th as they allowed Idaho Falls to put up 16 runs against them in a 10-run loss on the road. The defeat, which marked the third time in the last week that Great Falls had given up double-digit runs in a single contest, was the third in a row and represented the most runs given up so far this season. The White Sox are now third in the North Division of the Pioneer League with a record of 16-19, but just four games out of first place. As one of the top hitting clubs in the league last week at .298, Great Falls had the most home runs with a total of 10 to its credit, although the team also struck out more than once in every four at-bats (82 out of 272 plate appearances). Josh Hansen (.500) appeared in five games for the club and crushed three home runs for them, although they only resulted in four RBI as he produced a slugging percentage of 1.050. Boomer Berry (.406) had a team-best 13 hits and scored 10 times, while Rick Adams (.200) was one of three players tied for the team lead with five RBI.