It’s getting to the point where the
fans in the outfield at BB&T BallPark – which measures just 330 feet to
left and 315’ to right – might want to consider borrowing hard hats from the
construction crew working on Fourth Street.
Before Monday’s double-header against
the Gwinnett Braves, Knights outfielder Jordan Danks took a look at the flag
blowing out and offered a bit of advice to his teammates.
“It’s a good day to put the ball in
the air boys,” he said.
Two games and a combined 10 home runs
– including a walk-off shot by Matt Davidson in the 10th inning of
Game 2 – later and it’s safe to say Danks had a good grasp on how BB&T
BallPark was going to play.
There have now been 115 long balls
(59 by opponents, 56 by the Knights) hit in Charlotte in 41 games this season –
31 more than Columbus’ Huntington Park, which ranks second in the International
League with 84, while the league average stands at 60.0.
Davidson’s was the first of the 115
to be of the walk-off variety and gave the
Knights a 7-5 Game 2 win. It was his second of the night and is a lock to
become the answer to a Knights’ trivia question someday.
“Things feel good,” said
Davidson, who is hitting .353 (12-for-34) over his last 10 games. “But I’m
never going to act like I’ve figured it out again in my whole life. Coming out
of spring (training) I felt great and then all of the sudden I lost it. I’m
just going to keep on working and really focus every single at-bat.”
The 2-for-4 showing brought
the White Sox top prospect’s average up to .201 on the season.
In his second start in Charlotte
since being acquired from the Blue Jays organization, Knights right-hander
Shawn Hill found out first hand in Game 1, just how small the park can play.
Hill (2-3) allowed three home runs in
six innings of work in an eventual 11-5 loss to the Braves, but two of the long
balls likely wouldn’t have left any other park in the IL.
Hill struggled to hide his
frustrations after a short home run by Mark Hamilton gave the Braves an 8-2
lead in the fifth. He finished the afternoon with an ugly stat line, which
read: six innings pitched, 10 hits, eight runs (all earned), one walk and three
strikeouts.
“He’s just happened to give up some
lazy fly balls that have turned into home runs in this ballpark,” said Danks, who recorded three doubles and scored three runs on Monday.
“I don’t think it’s intimidating for him or anything, but it’s definitely
frustrating at times for the pitchers.”
In Game 2, Tyler Saladino (who also homered in Game 1), Blake
Tekotte and Davidson each went yard to help Charlotte take a 5-5 game into the tenth
inning before Davidson’s heroics.
"I was just trying to get a
good pitch to hit and he hung a cutter, which got in on me a little bit, but
luckily the fence is a little short (to left) and it got over," Davidson said. "I’m just trying to keep
things simple, get a good pitch to hit, and just frickin' hit it."
Matt Zaleski got the nod on the mound
for Charlotte and tossed three innings, allowing four runs on six hits. Three
Knights relievers then combined to hold the Braves to one run over the game’s
next seven innings.
Ryan Kussmaul (2-3) recorded the win after tossing two scoreless, hitless, innings. He struck out three.
Charlotte – which entered the day
with the highest total attendance in the IL – packed 16,946 fans into BB&T
BallPark over the course of the day and went over 400,000 for the year
(402,723).
The double-header split also secured
a .500 (15-15) month of June for the Knights, who appear to be on the rebound
after an 8-22 May.
“The timing (of
Davidson’s home run) was great,” said Knights manager Joel Skinner, who was
coaching third after Ryan Newman earned an early exit for arguing a foul ball
in the seventh. “I got to high-five him, or high-10 him actually as he rounded
the bases.”
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