Sunday, April 20, 2014

Tommy Hanson takes the loss in Charlotte Knights debut

Courtesy of Knights Director of PR and Media Relations, Tommy Viola 

(Lawrenceville, GA) – The Gwinnett Braves scored eight runs over a three-inning stretch -- rallying from a 3-0 deficit, and went on to beat the Charlotte Knights by a score of 8-4 on Easter Sunday from Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, GA in game two of their three-game series. The Braves have a win in each of the first two games of the series and the two teams will close out the three-game set on Monday.

Former Gwinnett and Atlanta standout Tommy Hanson (0-1, 9.00) made his Charlotte Knights debut and allowed four runs on four hits over four innings and was saddled with the loss. Hanson, who was assigned to Charlotte on Saturday from extended spring training, pitched in his first game of the 2014 season. He threw 66 pitches on the afternoon, walked three and struck-out one batter.

The Knights got off to a quick 3-0 start for Hanson in the first inning. Andy Wilkins did the most damage with his first home run of the season -- a two-run shot off Gwinnett starter Zach Stewart (1-0, 5.06). Stewart -- a former Knights hurler -- gave up three runs on four hits over six innings to earn his first win of the season. It was Stewart’s first win since September 2, 2013 when he earned the final win in Knights Stadium history as a member of the Charlotte Knights.

Ernesto Mejia launched his seventh home run of the season – a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the Braves on the scoreboard. Gwinnett scored eight unanswered runs over the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to pull away from the Knights. Tommy La Stella had three hits, two runs scored, and two RBIs on the afternoon.

The loss was Charlotte’s sixth in-a-row.

LHP Eric Surkamp (0-2, 7.07) gets the start for the Knights in their series finale on Monday at 6:35 p.m. from Coolray Field. Gwinnett will hand the ball to RHP Cody Martin (1-1, 3.55).

1 comments:

David P. McKnight said...

A discouraging start for the Knights after celebrating the opening of a fine Uptown Charlotte stadium.

Maybe things will pick up on the offensive side in the next month and some of the Knights pitchers will be able to "go the distance."

Meanwhile, when the team visits Durham to play the Bulls, some of us ex-Chrlotteans all go out and see if we can celebrate some Knights victories "on the road."