Charlotte Knights' comeback comes up just short in 5-4 loss to RailRiders

After a week full of come-from-behind victories the Charlotte Knights’ luck rank out on Friday night in a 5-4 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders to even their current four-game series at one game apiece in front of 10,422 at BB&T Ballpark.

Once again the Knights, who already had two walk-off wins this week, looked primed for some late-game heroics.

With Scranton/Wilkes-Barre leading 5-3, Carlos Sanchez (5-for-5) led off the ninth inning with a double. Matt Davidson (who hit a walk-off home run on Thursday night) then made it a one-run game with a single up the middle and Trayce Thompson followed with a hit of his own.

For a moment, it looked as though Dan Black had won the game with a walk-off three-run home run, but the ball hooked just foul down the right field line. Black would strikeout on the next pitch and Engle Beltre would eventually do the same at the hands of RailRiders’ right-hander Nick Rumbelow, who earned his second save of the season.

After being no-hit for the game’s first three innings, the RailRiders (11-12) got to Knights’ right-hander Shawn Haviland (0-2) for four runs in the fourth inning thanks to two two-out hits from Ben Gamel and Austin Romine.

The Knights (13-8) rallied for two runs in the bottom half of the fourth after Black drew a one out walk, advanced to third on a double by Beltre, and then scored on a Kevan Smith fielder’s choice. Beltre would trot home a batter later on a Jason Coats’ single. 

Coats came through again in the eighth with his second run-scoring single to make it a 4-3 game.

The RailRiders added what turned out to be an important insurance run off Maikel Cleto in the top of the ninth inning. The run was the first allowed by the right-hander this season, bringing his scoreless-innings streak to an end at 20 1/3 innings. 

  

Quote

“It was another good ninth inning for us, regardless of whether we won or lost. We battled back, scored a run and, you know, just came up short.” – Knights’ manager Joel Skinner.

Worth mentioning

With two walks on Friday, Charlotte Knights’ designated hitter Dan Black (0 for 3) has now reached base in 20-straight games (dating back to last season). Despite seeing his 11-game hitting streak come to an end, Black finished the night hitting (.354). He entered Friday leading the International League in on-base percentage (.473) and slugging percentage (.733). … With his five-hit performance on Friday night, Charlotte second baseman Carlos Sanchez (273) jumped from 11^th to eighth all-time on the Knights’ hits list, passing Lou Lucca (269) and Tim Hummel (271). ... Friday’s game was the first of the season where pitchers (with a called ball) and batters (with a called strike) were penalized for pitch timer violations. Shawn Haviland was called for a violation with one out in the top of the fourth inning with Tyler Austin at the plate. The RailRiders went on to score four runs in the inning. … Since his call up to Chicago on April 20, Carlos Rodon has made two appearances with the White Sox and thrown a total of 65 pitches over 3.1 innings. The left-hander has allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out two.

What's next?

The Knights will play the third game of their four-game series with the RailRiders at BB&T Ballpark on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. RHP Chris Beck (0-1, 5.31) will take the mound for the Knights across from RHP Jaron Long (0-1, 6.10).

No comeback on Tuesday for Charlotte Knights, who fall 6-2 to Toledo

The Charlotte Knights fell 6-2 to the Toledo Mud Hens in front of 9,047 at BB&T Ballpark on Tuesday night to even their three-game series at one-game apiece.

Mud Hens’ starter Tim Melville (1-2) held the Knights offense scoreless on one hit over six innings of work to record his first-career Class AAA win. The right-hander walked four and struck out five.

The Knights, who went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, finished the game with a season-low four hits.

Veteran right-hander Brad Penny (1-2) returned from the disabled list to make his third start of the season for the Knights. He allowed an unearned run and four hits over four innings of work.

Penny -- who induced seven ground-ball outs on Tuesday -- was placed on the DL back on April 15 with an undisclosed injury.

Toledo, which carried a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning – broke the game open against Knights’ reliever Arcenio Leon, scoring three runs over his 1 2/3 innings of work to take a 6-0 edge into the bottom of the seventh.

Dan Black, who tied Monday's game (that was later won in the 10th inning thanks to a Jason Coats walk-off single) with a ninth-inning home run, continued to swing a hot bat when he knocked in Trayce Thompson from first base with a double to right with no outs in the seventh off Mud Hens’ reliever Rafael Dolis.

Black would take third on a Kevan Smith ground out and, following a Jared Mitchell walk, come in to score on a Leury Garcia single.

After failing to score in the eighth, the Knights brought the tying run to the on-deck circle in the bottom of the ninth, but ultimately came up short in their third comeback attempt in as many games.

With his 2-for-3 performance on Tuesday night, Black has now reached base in 17-straight games (dating back to last season) with the Knights. He is now batting a team-leading .368 on the season despite limited playing time early in the year.

Worth mentioning

White Sox right-hander Javy Guerra (with Knights on a MLB rehab assignment) allowed two runs on three hits in an inning of relief. He threw 24 pitches (14 for strikes) and struck out one. ... Maikel Cleto turned in a scoreless 2 1/3 innings of relief and has now not allowed a run in his last 19 2/3 innings of work dating back to last season. … The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Knights. Their season-long winning streak is four games (April 15-18). … Three members of the AHL Charlotte Checkers -- John Muse, Zach Boychuk and Dennis Robertson -- took batting practice at BB&T Ballpark prior to Tuesday’s game. …Continued protests over the death of Freddie Gray caused the postponement of the White Sox (the parent club of the Knights) – Orioles game in Baltimore on Tuesday. The White Sox and Orioles will resume their disrupted series Wednesday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. in a contest that is closed to the public.

Quotes

“(Melville) was just mixing his pitches well and he had us off balance and found a way to get the ball passed us at the plate. We’ll come back out here tomorrow and get some hits.” – Knights first baseman Dan Black.

"Everything about (Cleto's) game. He’s repeating his delivery. He’s staying compact, and as a result of that he’s commanding the baseball and he’s mixing up all his pitches. He’s got a great arm to go with all that, so he’s just kind of harnessed his game.” – Knights' manager Joel Skinner on the difference he’s seen in RHP Maikel Cleto this season.

“(Black’s) doing a great job. Like we tell all our guys, you need to take advantage of your opportunities and he’s getting an opportunity because of some injuries that have opened some things up and he’s taking advantage. It’s good to see.” – Skinner on Dan Black’s recent performance.

“He hasn’t pitched in two weeks and was able to get a couple good side (sessions) in. The biggest thing tonight was that (Penny) felt fine physically.” – Skinner on Brad Penny’s first start since April 14.

What's next?

The Knights and Mud Hens will play the final game of their three-game series at BB&T Ballpark on Wednesday at 11:05 a.m. Erik Johnson (2-1, 0.75) will look to continue his stellar stat this season for the Knights across from Thad Weber (2-1, 5.63). 

Probables: Charlotte Knights vs. Gwinnett Braves

Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.

CHA - RHP Shawn Hill (3-5, 5.07)

GWN - RHP Gus Schlosser (7-5, 3.48)

Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.

CHA - RHP Bobby Doran (2-1, 6.88)

GWN - LHP Daniel Rodriguez (6-12, 4.63)

Head to head: The Braves lead the season-series, 7-5.

Briefly: The Charlotte Knights fell to the Gwinnett Braves 5-4 on Sunday in the finale of their two-game series from Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, GA. The two teams split the series and will now open a two-game series from BB&T Ballpark . … Matt Lindstrom (on his rehab assignment from the Chicago White Sox) has allowed three runs on five hits over two innings pitched (two appearances). … Avisail Garcia (also with the Knights on rehab assignment from the White Sox) had to be removed from Sunday’s game after being hit by a pitch in the left-elbow area in his second at-bat. Garcia had gone 5-for-10 in three appearances (all at designated hitter) with Charlotte. He’s currently listed as day-to-day. … Maikel Cleto has been recalled by the White Sox. To make room for him on the roster, Chicago reassigned Taylor Thompson to the Knights. Cleto had not allowed a run in his last five appearances (7.2 IP), while striking out 13. … The Knights will welcome over 20 former Charlotte Hornets baseball players to the game on Tuesday for a special Charlotte Hornets Tribute. 

Update (2:20 p.m.): 

RHP Zach Putnam, who began the 2014 season with the Charlotte Knights, will begin a Major League Rehab assignment with the team tonight. ... In other roster news, LHP Charlie Leesman was activated off of Charlotte’s disabled list, while RHP Matt Zaleski was placed on the DL (retroactive to August 2). 

Jordan Danks' eighth-inning go-ahead single leads Knights over Mud Hens

Jordan Danks delivered the clutch hit, while Eric Surkamp turned in another solid outing, baffling the Toledo Mud Hens for the second time this season.

Danks drove in the go-ahead run with a one-out single off a left-hander in the eighth after Toledo had intentionally walked Marcus Semien to get to him.

The hit knocked in the first of three runs the Knights would get in the eighth on their way to a 5-2 win on Saturday at BB&T BallPark.

Danks’ single came on the first pitch of his at-bat and scored Micah Johnson, who led off the inning with his fourth hit of the game to spark the rally. Johnson moved to second on a passed ball and took third on a Carlos Sanchez sacrifice bunt before Semien took his free pass.

“When they walk a guy to get to you, in your mind, you take it as an insult and you’re like, 'all right, I’ll just come up big right here,' and I did,” Danks said. “I saw myself doing it before I did. I got a good pitch to hit and it worked out for me.”

The win improved the Knights to 4-11 in games tied after five innings and ensured Charlotte at least a split with two games remaining in its current four-game series with Toledo.

Surkamp, who fanned a season-high 12 in his previous start against the Mud Hens this season, entered the game fresh off tossing seven scoreless innings in a win over Lehigh Valley and picked up right where he left off, punching out four of the first six batters.

He scattered five hits, struck out seven and walked just one, while utilizing a sharp curveball. 

“I couldn’t pin (my success against Toledo) on one thing or another,” said Surkamp, who has now struck out 19 Mud Hens in 13 innings this season. “They’re a good hitting team, they are aggressive. I was just trying to throw strikes."

Asked what Surkamp’s curve looked like from his point of view in center, Danks laughed.

“Not one that I’d like to see. It’s one of those pitches that I look at from the outfield that makes me glad that he’s on my team. (Surkamp’s) not overpowering, but he’s around the strike zone, changes speeds and hits his spots. That’s harder to hit sometimes than a guy throwing 98.”

Johnson had a two-out run-scoring single to get the Knights on the board in the third inning on top of his go-ahead run late. 

The four-hit game was his second in four games and improved him to 10-for-22 over his last five, with five runs scored, three knocked in and two stolen bases.

Andy Wilkins (2-for-4) also contributed with two doubles and two runs knocked in.

  

Maikel Cleto, who came on for the eighth, walked the Mud Hens’ No. 9 batter, Danny Worth, with one out and allowed him to score two batters later on a single to center by Brandon Douglas, to erase Surkamp from the decision.

The three-run eighth by Charlotte set the table for a pleasantly uneventful save by Ryan Kussmaul, his second of the season.

“I feel like a lot of those tie ballgames late are going to be ones that we start pulling out,” Danks said. “We’ve lost a lot of one-run games and that doesn’t show up in the win-loss column, but we are a tough team to beat and hopefully this gets us on a roll.”

Notes: With seven strikeouts tonight, Eric Surkamp took over first place in the International League with 84 Ks, three more than Rochester’s Trevor May.  

Eight scoreless by Charlie Leesman hidden by 7-6 final in Knights win.

The Knights have spent the first two months of the season working towards a game like the one they nearly put together at BB&T BallPark on Thursday.

Charlotte played flawless defense, received a gem of a performance from starter Charlie Leesman, and what wound up being just enough offense to snap a three-game slide against the Red Wings.

Three quarters of the way through a stretch of 23 games in 22 days, the Knights pushed back any thoughts of fatigue for eight innings to take a 7-0 lead over Rochester in front of a sold out crowd of 10,222.

Those who stuck around for the final were rewarded by Maikel Cleto, who added some drama when he allowed five consecutive singles to begin the ninth before a three-run home run made it a 7-6 game.

After walking off the mound to a smattering of boos, Donnie Veal picked up his teammate by retiring the next three Red Wings to preserve the win and record his third save.

“There were a lot of good things that happened tonight, especially considering that we were coming off the double-header,” Knights skipper Joel Skinner said. “That Charlie was able to eat up some innings for us was a good thing. We played some real nice defense. That last inning, that’s just baseball.”

Leesman (2-5) had his cutter, curve and changeup all working for eight mellow innings, Tyler Saladino and Carlos Sanchez went back-and-forth trying to one-up the other’s web-gem and Charlotte even its record at 3-3 in June.

The Knights (21-40) stayed on the tips of their toes thanks to Leesman, who worked quickly, scattering three hits and striking out seven on eight innings, while recording 14 groundouts to outduel a former Arizona Fall League teammate in Trevor May (5-4), who fanned nine in six innings.

“I know May really well,” said Leesman. “Congrats for him too, he still pitched a great game tonight. But, you always want to do better than him. I’m sure he’s sitting over there too, like, ‘Hey I want to outduel Leesman,’ so it made things all the more interesting.”

It was fitting that the final two outs of Leesman’s night came on an inning-ending groundball double play off the bat of Rochester leadoff man Eric Farris. The bounce out was Farris' fourth of the game. 

Saladino (2-for-4, 2 R) stepped to the plate in the fifth inning and laced a 1-1 single to center to end a string of four consecutive punch-outs by May, who entered the day having not allowed an earned run in his previous four starts. After Blake Tekotte (2-for-4 2 RBI) became the fifth ‘K’ in May’s last five, Jared Mitchell worked a 3-2 base on balls.

Marcus Semien (3-for-5, RBI, R) then turned on an off-speed pitch and sent it down the left field line to score Saladino, breaking a 0-0 tie. Sanchez (1-for-4, RBI) followed with a double down the opposite line and May began to unravel.

A wild pitch with Jordan Danks (1-for-3, HR) at the plate made it a three-run fifth for the Knights.

At the time, the three-run edge felt like 15 the way Leesman was pitching, but in what wound up being a critical eighth, the Knights added four more, with a two-run home run by Danks – his third in two days – adding the exclamation point.

“To be honest, it was a good position, up 7-0,” said Saladino. “They got a couple runners on and you’re not too concerned because you can get a double-play and be one out away from winning the ballgame. Obviously, they put some good at-bats together and made it a tight one. We had to earn it.” 

Notes: Skinner spoke about the timetable for Micah Johnson's hamstring injury, "He’s still a ways away I would imagine. He was in Kannapolis, while we were away, doing some stuff with them. Today we got him back into a little bit of baseball activity just to kind of get him moving. He’s still a ways away though."... Skinner also explained that Marcus Semien has been used as the DH because he stubbed a finger on his throwing hand and the team is trying to manage the swelling. Skinner expects Semien back on the field soon. ... Charlie Leesman's eight-inning performance tied his May 9th eight-inning showing for the longest by a Knights starter this season. 

Charlotte Knights drop 5-2 decision to Rochester Red Wings

The seventh inning of the Charlotte Knight’s 5-2 loss to Rochester on Tuesday night was the kind that separates winning teams from those still learning how to put a game away.

The Knights followed the script to begin the frame when Tyler Saladino singled. Jared Mitchell kept things on track when he laid down a two-strike bunt. Gorkys Hernandez then played his part with a hard-hit groundout to second to move Saladino to third and a four-pitch walk to Marcus Semien, brought Carlos Sanchez to the plate.

Sanchez sent a 3-2 pitch back up the middle only to see it speared at the last second by the Rochester reliever to end the threat.

The play sucked most the life out of the crowd of 9,169 at BB&T BallPark and a three-run eighth by Rochester had the doctors calling the time of death with an inning and a half remaining.  

 “Our guys barreled a few balls and gave themselves a chance," Knights manager Joel Skinner said. "The next half inning, they were able to go out there and string three or four hits together and that was the game.”

The win improved the Red Wings to 32-25 on the season and dropped Charlotte to 20-38 and 3-9 in games tied in the fifth inning or later.

“Momentum, or no momentum, we just came out and made some mistakes and they got their hits in and we didn’t,” Knight catcher Josh Phegley said. “It’s deflating when they score that late, but you’ve got nine innings and nine chances. We did what we could that inning and it didn't work out.”

The first three Red Wings reached base against Knights starter Tommy Hanson to begin the game, with Eric Farris eventually scoring on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Deibinson Romero.

Three innings later, Wilkins’ team-leading 10^th home run of the season knotted the game at 1. The round-tripper broke up a string of four in a row (three by way of the K) retired by Rochester starter Logan Darnell.

In the bottom of the fifth, Marcus Semien’s first hit since joining the Knights two days ago, gave Charlotte the lead when it came to rest several rows deep in the left-field bleachers.

Romero returned the favor in the top half of the sixth, sending a 1-1 pitch out on a line to left. It was the first hit off Hanson since the first in what wound up being a nice bounce-back performance for the right-hander, who allowed seven runs in 2.2 inning in his previous start.

Hanson went six innings on Tuesday, allowing four hits, striking out six, and walking two. He threw 98 pitches (61 for strikes).

“Hanson was using his slider a lot today and they weren’t really making the adjustment,” Phegley said. “He got a few good swing and missed on his new changeup that he’s been working on too. He threw the ball well.”

With four games remaining in the next three days against the Red Wings – including two on Wednesday – the Knights will have plenty of opportunities to come up with that crucial game-winning hit. 

Tommy Hanson goes seven strong; Knights do little things well in 3-1 win over Indianapolis

The White Sox organization preaches the importance of situational baseball from the day they draft a player.  

On Saturday, in front of a sold out crowd of 10,359 at BB&T BallPark, the Knights showed that they’ve been listening on their way to a 3-1 win over the Indianapolis Indians.

With the second most home runs (37 in 49 games) in the International League entering the day, it could have easy to sit back and wait for the long ball.

Instead, the Knights scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings on two seperate two-out RBI singles and a sacrifice fly.

The three runs were more than Tommy Hanson (3-4), making his seventh start of the season, would need. The 6-foot-6-inch right-hander lasted a season-high seven innings while surrendering four hits, fanning three and walking one.  

His only blemish came on a first-pitch fastball in the fourth inning that Chris McGuiness ambushed for a solo home run that might still be rolling down Mint Street.

From that point, Hanson would allow just two more Indians to reach base, before giving way to Taylor Thompson and later Maikel Cleto.

“I’ve been working on keeping the ball down and as I went I stopped just trying to throw strikes and focused on working in the bottom of the zone,” said Hanson, who threw 98 pitches (61 strikes). “As the game went on, I got more and more ground balls and better results.

“I felt like I had more in the tank. I threw 100 pitches and still felt like I could go out there and that’s what you’re striving for.”

Thompson walked off the mound following the eight having not allowed a hit in his last 6 and 2/3 innings. Cleto exited the ninth after striking out the side with his first save as a Knight in tow.

With two down in the third, Gorkys Hernadez doubled of Indians starter Jake Brigham (1-3) and then scored on a single by Carlos Sanchez to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead.

Jordan Danks doubled to lead off the following inning before Matt Davidson – who possess the most power of anyone on Charlotte’s roster – flied to right in an effort to advance Danks to third.

The ball wasn’t deep enough to accomplish Davidson's goal, but it was a clear sign that he's learning what it takes to play at the next level. 

“Even when it didn’t work out, you saw Davidson try to move the runner over right there and he wound up flying out the right field,” said Knights hitting coach Andy Tomberlin. “He’s trying to hit the ball hard to the right side. That’s the job that we’re all trying to execute.”

Blake Tekotte remedied Davidson's shallow fly with a deep one to right that sent Danks to third and set the table for another two-out RBI situation for Charlotte.

This time, it was Andy Wilkins that came through with the single to right.

“Two-out base hits win a lot of ball games,” said Knights manager Joel Skinner. “You try to put yourself in position to be in those kinds of situations. The Wilkins’ hit was a big one for us. ”

The Knights entered the game hitting .202 with two-out hits with runners is scoring position. By the end of the fourth, they were 2-for-3.

An error and a long single to right off the bat of Hernandez to begin the fifth left runners at the corners for Sanchez, who delivered his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to left.

“It was a pretty clean situational approach tonight,” Tomberlin said. “I don’t know how many times I’ve been able to say that, but I can say that was one tonight and tomorrow we’re looking to repeat it.”

The Knights will look to salvage a split in their four-game series with the Indians at 2:05 p.m. tomorrow when Eric Surkamp (2-2) takes the mound against Casey Sadler (5-1).