Jordan Danks to Charlotte; Conor Gillaspie to Chicago and a few other notes

Jordan Danks optioned to Charlotte; Conor Gillaspie activated from DL

Following Wednesday's 3-2 extra-innings loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Chicago White Sox announced that outfielder Jordan Danks has been reassigned to the Charlotte Knights.

With Conor Gillaspie’s rehab assignment with Charlotte complete (he was placed on the DL April 26), Danks was optioned back to Charlotte to make room for the White Sox regular third baseman on the Major League roster.

In three games with the Knights, Gillaspie went 2-for-12 with a home run. He also played an excellent third base. Wednesday was the first day that Gillaspie was eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list (hand contusion).

Danks, who was promoted to Chicago on April 10 following Avisail Garcia’s season-ending shoulder injury, went just 4-for-41 with a home run and five RBIs in 21 games. He made nine starts and saw more playing time recently with center fielder Adam Eaton also ending up on the DL.

On Tuesday, Danks hit a two-run double in the ninth inning of the Sox’s 5-1 victory over the Cubs.

With Eaton able to come off the disabled list on May 18, the White Sox will need to make another roster move. Former Knights SS/2B Marcus Semien has been mentioned as a name that could also be returning to Charlotte.

Carlos Sanchez extends hitting streak to 10 games

With a two-out single in the bottom of the 11^th, Knights second baseman Carlos Sanchez extended his current hitting streak to 10 games. A walk in an earlier at-bat allowed him to reach base for the 23rd consecutive game.

Since April 11, Sanchez is 28-for-85 (.329). His on-base streak is third in the International League and first among active streaks.

Matt Davidson on the mend

Knights regular third baseman, Matt Davidson, missed his fourth straight game with a sore hand on Wednesday.

"He’s got a sore hand and he’s getting his treatment," said Knights manager Joel Skinner, who has consistently downplayed the injury all week. "We’ll see how he’s doing tomorrow."

Alex Liddi started in place of Davidson on Wednesday and finished the day 0-for-4.

Charlotte Knights snap slide at eight games with 9-1 win over Durham Bulls

By Seth Lakso, Charlotte Observer Correspondent

The Charlotte Knights had watched their record go from a game above .500 to seven games below over the course of an eight-game losing streak that began on April 14th.

With each loss, you could feel the pressure building. In Fort Mill, S.C., they could fly under the radar. Here, in Charlotte, people were beginning to talk.

Wednesday was about putting all that to bed.

The Knights entered the game with a collective batting average of .213. They opted to skip their morning batting practice and instead wound up taking it off of Durham Bulls starter Nate Karns, on their way to a 9-1 win in front of a crowd of 9,574 at BB&T Ballpark.

The game’s first pitch came at t 11:12 a.m.; by 11:30, Charlotte had a 5-0 lead. By noon, they were up eight.

It had been 14 games since the Knights had scored more than six runs in a game. Three batters in, they had three runs on the board, thanks to Andy Wilkins’ second home run in four games.

Three batters later, Alex Liddi (1 for 5, 2 RBI) connected on a two-run shot to cap the first inning scoring and set the tone for Charlotte’s starter, Deunte Heath, who tossed five scoreless innings to record his first win of the season.

“We came out and scored quick,” said Wilkins, who finished the afternoon 2 for 5 with three runs batted in. “When you lose eight games in a row, any kind of early offensive push is good. (Heath) did a great job out there today too. I think it was just a good overall win.”  

In the second inning, Charlotte continued to tee off on Karns -- who lasted just the two frames and fell to 2-2 on the season -- for three more runs.

Jared Mitchell led off the inning with a triple and came in to score on a sacrifice fly.

After a walk and an error put runners on first and second, Hector Gimenez (1 for 3, 2 RBI, 2 BB) cleared the bases with a double.

By the end of the fourth inning, where Tyler Saladino picked up an RBI with a bases-loaded walk, the Knights had already set a season-high in runs scored with nine.

Every Charlotte starter reached base at least once via a walk or a hit. A feat made more impressive, considering both the starting third baseman, Matt Davidson, and starting catcher, Josh Phegley, were given the day off.

Heath allowed just two hits over his five innings of work and managed to toss just 49 pitches, before giving way to former New York Mets closer Frank Francisco, who made his Knights debut.

Francisco allowed a run on a walk, a hit, and an error. He threw 14 pitches -- all fastballs -- and looked out of place trying to cover first on an attempted 3-6-1 double play, but called the appearance a success following the game.

“The good thing today was that I was able to locate my fastball, you know, and make the hitter hit the ball on the ground,” said Francisco, who joined the team late Tuesday night from extended spring training in Arizona. “That’s what’s most important. My fastball was working really good, so I didn’t see the need to go to my other pitches.”

Asked where he's at physically, Francisco responded: "It’s my second game. I’ve got to be tested first, like have a long inning, and see how much gas I have in the tank. For me, I did good today."  

The win snapped a five-game losing streak to Durham, who the Knights will play again on Thursday and Friday, before heading out on an eight-game road trip.

“Everything in this game seems to be a little bit contagious from a confidence standpoint,” said Knights manager Joel Skinner. “You try to feed off each other. When guys are doing well, other guys usually start to chip in and that’s how it starts. Today was a good sign.”

Notes: Josh Phegely missed the game because of what Knights coach Joel Skinner termed, "a sore leg."
"It’s nothing big," continued Skinner. "We’re just being pertinent and taking care of the situation. We'll see how he does, but he’s feeling better." ... Asked about Matt Davidson's day off, Skinner replied: "When you have these 11 o’clock games, you try to pick a guy that maybe could use the time off and today I thought would be a good day for him to have a day off." Over his last 10 games, the 23-year-old is hitting .086 (3 for 35) with one home run and 19 strikeouts. ... The Knights improved to 2-6 against the Bulls this season. ... The road-loss was Durham's second this season. ... For a link to Jeff Siner's photos from the game, CLICK HERE. 

Charlotte Knights bats continue to struggle at BB&T Ballpark in loss to Gwinnett

By Seth Lakso, Charlotte Observer Correspondent 

When BB&T Ballpark was first opened, Charlotte Knights’ players marveled at the short porches down the left and right field lines.

During their first round of batting practice, they spoke openly about how well the ball carried. Knights’ starter, Andre Rienzo, even joked, “It looks like a hitter’s park, right? I’m scared to pitch here a little. The ball flies.”

However, after Wednesday night’s 7-2 loss to the Gwinnett Braves in front of a crowd of 8,872, it’s becoming clear that that early optimism isn’t translating into runs for the home team.

Through six games, the Knights – who stranded seven runners on base on Wednesday – are averaging just three runs a contest and hitting a collective .213 (43 for 202) at the unfriendly confines of BB&T and have now dropped three straight.

“I think that we’re just going through something right now,” said Charlotte hitting coach Andy Tomberlin. “You know, hitting is contagious. Once you start getting a few knocks, it just seems to flow a little bit. Right now, we’re just trying to get our timing together. I think as a group we just need to put together some quality at bats.

“We had some balls hit hard that they made plays on and that kind of shut down some momentum, but that’s the game,” continued Tomberlin. “You just have to keep grinding and finding ways.”

Dylan Axelrod (L, 1-1) got the start for the Knights (6-8) and did his job, making it through six innings, allowing four runs on six hits and striking out five.

Long balls by the Braves' Steven Lerud and Joey Terdoslavich, along with a triple that appeared to actually be a home run, but was not called as such by the umpires, by former Knight Tyler Greene, were his only major mistakes.

Daniel Rodriguez (W, 2-1) started opposite Axelrod for the Braves (6-7). The southpaw allowed one run over five innings, while striking out six Charlotte batters.

  

Trailing 4-1 entering the bottom of the sixth the Knights tried to make a game of it when Josh Phegley (2 for 4) tripled to begin the inning and then caught a break when Denis Phipps reached on a two-out error by the Braves third basemen, allowing Phegley to score.

However, two innings later the Braves added two more runs off veteran reliever Javy Guerra, who entered the game having not allowed a run in 5.2 innings pitched this season.

The stunned look on shortstop Alex Liddi’s face when Braves centerfielder Todd Cunningham robbed him of what looked like a sure double to lead off the bottom of the ninth with a full extension dive, said more than any stat could.

“I hit it hard and it was in the gap and he made a good play and I was just like, ‘Are you kidding me?’” said Liddi, who finished Wednesday 0 for 4 one night after connecting on his first home run of the season.

Liddi’s partner on the left side of the diamond on Wednesday night, Matt Davidson (1 for 4, 3 LOB), also seemed frustrated at the plate. 

Over his last six home games Davidson, who is ranked by Baseball America as the Knights top prospect has gone 3 for 21 with 0 runs bated in and 11 strikeouts.

“Some of it is that balls aren’t falling and some of it is that we’re swinging at bad pitches, giving up at bats too easily,” said Liddi, whose average now stands at .171. “We need to stick our noses in there a little more and be more tough at the plate."

Mikie Mahtook's consecutive hits streak steals spotlight in Charlotte Knights loss to Durham

By Seth Lakso, Charlotte Observer Correspondent 

By the end of the night, even Knights fans were pulling for Mikie Mahtook.

The Durham Bulls had jumped out to an early lead on their way to defeating the Knights 9-2 in front of an announced crowd of 8,671 at BB&T Ballpark on Tuesday night, leaving the Bulls’ rightfielder as the game’s main attraction by the time he came to the plate in the top of the eighth inning.

Mahtook stepped into the box 11-for-his-last-11, 9-for-9 in the series against the Knights, and a home run away from the cycle.

Knights’ reliever Taylor Thompson watched as Mahtook took a vicious cut at his first pitch -- an inside fastball -- and fouled it off. Mahtook then did the same thing on Thompson’s next offering.

With the count 0-2, the Charlotte righthander went with a slider away and finally put an end to Mahtook’s remarkable run with his third strikeout in two innings of work.

“Honestly, I should have gone up with the same approach I’d had all night,” said Mahtook whose run ended four hits shy of George Quellich’s all-time International League mark of 15-straight hits, set while he was with Reading in 1929. “I kind of got swing happy and got out of my approach a little bit there and he made some good pitches and I chased a couple times and he got me out.

“It was going to come to an end at some point,” continued Mahtook, who was drafted by the Rays in 2011 with the compensation pick they got back when the Yankees signed Raphael Soriano. “I wasn’t going to go whatever for my next whatever, you know, but it was fun while it lasted.”

Still, Mahtook finished the night 4-for-5 and was a thorn in the side of Knights starter Eric Surkamp, who fell to 0-2 on the season after allowing seven runs on nine hits over the course of four innings.

Surkamp’s counterpart, Enny Romero improved to 2-0 against the Knights this season with a five-inning, four-hit, one run performance. Romero struck out five on the night.

Catawba College alumni, Jerry Sands (2-for-4) also had a big night at the plate for the Bulls, finishing with two home runs and four runs knocked in.

Sands’ first home run was a no-doubter to centerfield, but his second traveled about 320 feet down the right field line.

Asked if he was a fan of the Knights' new home, Sands – who walked out of the locker room in a Catawba College tee shirt – replied, “Yeah, we all were fans of this new ballpark already. The first day we took BP out here, we knew it was a nice place to hit. Down the lines, it definitely goes, the gaps get a little bit big, but right and left it goes pretty good.” 

Charlotte shortstop Alex Liddi (2-for-4) hit his first home run of the season in the seventh inning and finished the night as Charlotte's only player with more than one hit.

The win was the sixth in a row for the Bulls (10-3), whose pitchers limited the Knights (6-7) to just five hits on the night and eight total in the short two-game series sweep.

After doubling in the second inning, singling in the fourth and lacing a triple in the fifth, Mahtook -- who began the streak with a .275 average and ended it at .408 -- actually wound up with two chances to complete his cycle.

In the seventh inning, he took the first two pitches he saw from Thompson for balls before lining a single back through the box. 

“Mikie is a pretty talented guy,” said Sands. “He’s got a bunch of tools and that was one of the more impressive streaks I’ve ever seen.”