Sunday, May 25, 2014

Four-hit day for Carlos Sanchez not enough as Knights fall to Indians 10-6

There’s a difference between getting hits and timely hitting and Sunday’s game between Charlotte and Indianapolis illustrated it perfectly.

The Knights posted more hits (13-12), more home runs (4-1) and more doubles (3-2) than the Indians, yet lost, 10-6, in front of a sellout crowd of 10,213 at BB&T Ballpark.   

Charlotte got its hits, but finished 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Indianapolis, on the other hand, finished the afternoon 6-for-13.

Three of Charlotte’s four long balls were solo shots, which Indy was able to cancel out with it’s only home run because it came with two aboard.
  
Carlos Sanchez was the star at the plate for the Knights for the second game in as many days.

After scoring two of Charlotte’s three runs in a 3-1 win over the Tribe on Saturday, Sanchez went 4-for-5 with a home run, a double and two runs batted in to raise his average to a Knights-leading .286 on the season.

The long ball, which put Charlotte up 2-0 in the first inning, was Sanchez’ first in 751 days and extended the middle infielder’s hitting streak to nine games.
    
Sanchez’ home run came after Knights southpaw Eric Surkamp had struck out the side in the top half of the inning and set a positive tone that the Indians slowly devoured as the game progressed.

Surkamp (2-3) lasted 4 and 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs on nine hits. He walked a batter and fanned five, but the beginning of the end came in the form of a three-run home run off the bat of Brent Moril in the second.
  
An RBI double by Josh Phegley (2-for-4) in the third evened the game at three, but a two-out RBI single by Indy’s Adalberto Santo, who entered the game hitting .107 on the season, gave the Indians a lead they would never relinquish.

Matt Davidson (1-for-4) hit his sixth of the season off Indy starter Casey Sadler (6-1) in the sixth and both Tyler Saladino (2-for-4) and Jared Mitchell (2-for-4) went yard in the ninth.

The Knights (16-33), who now head out on an eight-game road trip, will look to right the ship in Columbus beginning on Monday.  

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tyler Saladino had (roughly) a scorching three weeks to start the season, a horrific three weeks when he couldn't hit a lick, and a recent ten-or-so days of decent production.

Did you (do you) notice any change in his approach at the plate that would account for such disparate results?

With no infield spots open (once Micah Johnson returns)how will the club manage to get Saladino playing time? The Knights have played him in the OF recently. Do you see this as the likeliest way for him to stay in the lineup?

Of the current regulars in the OF, whom would you designate for replacement if the club decides to play Saladino there regularly? Left, center or, right? How's he look out there?

I really like the new site design. Thanks for your great coverage. If you feel like answering any of those endless questions above I would certainly appreciate it.