Game 98 lineups: Durham Bulls at Charlotte Knights

Here are the lineups:

Bulls (49-46)
Boog Powell LF
Ryan Brett 2B
Taylor Motter RF
J.P. Arencibia 1B
Richie Shaffer 3B
Corey Brown CF
Nick Franklin DH
Hak-Ju Lee SS
Bobby Wilson C
Pitching: LHP Everett Teaford (4-6, 5.58)

Knights (55-42)
Micah Johnson 2B (his .333 batting average ranks second in the International League)
Leury Garcia SS (currently third in the IL with 27 stolen bases this season)
Jason Coats LF
Matt Davidson 3B (tied for second in the IL with 15 home runs this season)
Matt Tuiasosopo RF (has hit a team-leading six home runs in July)
Trayce Thompson CF
Chris Marrero 1B
Kevan Smith C
Tyler Colvin DH
Pitching: RHP Brad Penny (4-3, 3.94)

Game time: 7:05 p.m.

TV/Radio: MiLB.TV/ ESPN 730

Game 50 lineups: Lehigh Valley IronPigs at Charlotte Knights

Here are the lineups:

IronPigs (20-31)
Brian Bogusevic CF
Tyler Henson 2B
Domonic Brown DH
Russ Canzler LF
Jordan Danks RF
Cord Phelps 3B
Chris McGuiness 1B
Blake Forsythe C
Jayson Nix SS
Pitching: RHP Chris Leroux (0-0. 7.36)

Knights (28-21)
Micah Johnson 2B (has reached base in nine of 10 games this season with Charlotte)
Tyler Saladino SS
Jason Coats LF (hitting .295 in the month of May)
Matt Davidson DH (has hit three home runs during Charlotte's current homestand)
Matt Tuiasosopo 1B (batting .326 at BB&T BallPark this season)
Trayce Thompson CF
George Kottaras C
Tyler Colvin RF
Leury Garcia 3B (eight hits over his last three games)
Pitching: RHP Scott Carroll (1-1, 2.45)

Game time: 2:05 p.m.

TV/Radio: MiLB.TV / ESPN 730

Knights enter All-Star break on high note with 13-8 win over Syracuse

Matt Tuiasosopo and Michael Taylor found themselves together on the Charlotte Knights roster for the first time on June 16.

The Knights entered that day 22 games below .500 on the season and with a clubhouse atmosphere that would have made Charlie Brown seem upbeat on his lowest of days.

On Sunday, a team that would be barely recognizable to the one that struggled through the first half of the season entered the All-Star break fresh off a 13-8 win over the International League-leading Syracuse Chiefs in front of 8,565 at BB&T BallPark.

The win improved the Knights to 17-12 since the acquisitions of Tuiasosopo (on 6/12) and Taylor (6/14) and salvaged a series split.

“Before I got here, there had been some struggles and we’ve talked about it,” said Taylor, who went 2-for-4 with a grand slam on Sunday. “But it seems maybe within the first week I was here, the mood changed.

“It changed from ‘Oh no, here we go again', or, 'How are we going to score enough runs?’ To one where it feels like if (the other team) scores three runs, that we feel like we’ll come back and score five.”

In the case of Sunday’s win, The Chiefs (57-39) scored three runs in the top of the first off Bobby Doran (1-0) in his Charlotte debut and the Knights (40-58) responded with eight of their own in the bottom half.

Both Marcus Semien (3-for-4) and Matt Davidson (2-for-4) hit home runs in the first inning, with Semien also adding a double to jumpstart a 13-hit day for a Charlotte offense that has hit .334 over its last 11 games.

The home run for Davidson was his league-leading (among active players) 17th of the season.

Taylor Hill (9-4), who started the game for the Chiefs, entered the day with the IL’s lowest earned run average (2.04), but lasted just 1/3 of an inning and allowed six hits, a walk, and seven earned runs. The outing was the shortest of Hill’s season by 3 and 2/3’s innings and upped his ERA to 2.63.

The eight runs were a season-high for an inning for Charlotte, and gave Doran, who wound up allowing four runs while scattering six hits and striking out six over five innings, new life.

“The first inning wasn’t what I was hoping it would be,” said Doran, who needed 38 pitches to get through the frame. “I think just the situation, having a new team, new environment, new catcher, just all that kind of stuff just built up.

“That bottom half really took the edge off a three-run top of the first,” Doran continued. “I was able to get a breather, regroup myself, and go back at it.”

In a way, Doran’s start was a lot like the Knights season. They were roughed up early on, but have since regrouped and gotten back at it.

Asked about what the presence of Tuiasosopo – who reached base three times on Sunday – and Taylor has meant to the team, Knights manger Joel Skinner didn’t mix words.

“The way they go about their business (stands out),” he said. “Those guys have been at this level and they’ve brought a mature atmosphere to our clubhouse. They’re just good people and it’s rubbed off on everyone.”

Notes: Carlos Sanchez was officially called up to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. He started at shortstop and went 0-for-5. … The Knights called up Justin Jirschele from (A+) Winston-Salem to take Sanchez’ roster spot. Jirschele was hitting .343 (34-for-99) in 33 games with the Dash. He finished 0-for-3 with a RBI … In another move, the White Sox released RHP Henry Rodriguez (0-1, 21.60 ERA in 1.2 IP) and added RHP Andre Rienzo (who was optioned back to Triple-A by Chicago following Saturday night’s game) to the roster. Rienzo threw two innings on Sunday and allowed one run … Micah Johnson played for the US Team in Sunday's Futures Game at Minnesota’s Target Field and finished 0-for-2. ... Tyler Saladino (forearm strain) has been ruled out for Wednesday's Triple-A All Star game. 

Sans Carlos Sanchez, Knights patch together 5-3 win over Syracuse Chiefs

When this season began, Tyler Saladino and Carlos Sanchez were the Knights starters up the middle.

Since then, Marcus Semien – a utility infielder / fledgling outfielder – and Micah Johnson – a second baseman – have each made their ways to Charlotte and in doing so created one of those problems an organization loves to have: too many quality middle infielders for two positions each night.

On Saturday, against all odds, Charlotte’s logjam up the middle turned into its greatest need in a 5-3 win over the Syracuse Chiefs in front of 10,378 at BB&T BallPark.

With Johnson on his way to play in the 2014 Futures Game, Saladino relegated to DH duties with a sore throwing arm, and Sanchez (according to sources) taking his talents to Cleveland to join the Chicago White Sox, Knights manager Joel Skinner found himself in need of a shortstop.

His solution was to give Matt Davidson, the Knights normal third baseman, his first professional start at the six, and to move Matt Tuiasosopo from left to third.

“I just went into the clubhouse and said, “Hey, you’re playing short and you’re playing third,”’ said Skinner. “I moved Marcus over to second because I didn’t want to play against the grain from a standpoint of turning two.”

The patchwork lineup performed well in support of starter Daniel McCutchen, who gave the Knights a much-needed 6.2 innings, while striking out six and surrendering three runs.

“It was a whirlwind kind of,” said Davidson, who had never played shortstop before in his life. “Luckily I had Marcus (Semien) out there to tell me what to do because I had no idea. It was fun.. I have a new found respect for those middle infield guys.” 

At one point in the sixth inning, Davidson fielded a ball deep in the hole and jumped up like you’re used to seeing Derek Jeter do in an effort to make the throw to first, while falling away from the play.

The throw sailed wide of the bag and the runner was safe, but the attempt was undeniably fun to watch.

“I kind of missed my shot,” said Davidson with a laugh. “That was my time to shine and I just over corrected too much. I think the angle from third is a little steeper. I didn’t need to correct it as much. That’s at least what I’m going to tell everyone.” 

McCutchen ultimately took a no-decision, but with only Taylor Thompson (2-0) – who tossed the game’s final 2.1 innings – Nelvin Fuentes and Henry Rodriguez available in the Charlotte pen, his effort was not lost on Skinner or his teammates.

“McCutchen was outstanding,” said Skinner. “To get us into the seventh inning (was huge) and then the job Taylor did… Both those guys were huge tonight. They were definitely the keys to the game.”

“It was big,” said Thompson of McCutchen’s performance. “He got us into the seventh and we needed it bad because we were stretched out. We needed at least six and he did that and I was lucky enough to get through the last few innings for us to get the win.”

The Knights (39-58), who took the lead for good in the eighth when Michael Taylor doubled home Tuiasosopo with Manny Delcarmen (3-3) pitching for the Chiefs (57-38), finished with 12 hits. Jordan Danks (3-for-3, R RBI) and Marcus Semien (2-for-5, R, three RBI) each hit home runs.

The two-hit night raised Semien’s average to .221 with the Knights after he had been below the Mendoza line for the better part of the last month.

Following the two-run eighth inning, Thompson struck out Zach Walters on a splitter with the tying run on second to end the game

“I didn’t want to let that game get away from us,” said Thompson. “We worked too hard to not win that game and we’d let the last few games get away from us. I just wanted to make sure and close it out no matter what.”

Charlotte can secure a series split with the Chiefs (57-38) with a win in the final game of their four-game series on Sunday afternoon. The newly acquired (from the Houston Astros) Bobby Doran is slated to start.

Notes: Following Saturday’s White Sox game, Chicago optioned RHP Andre Rienzo to the Knights. The native of Brazil was 4-5 with a 5.87 ERA in 14 appearances with the White Sox.

Game 96: Charlotte Knights vs. Syracuse Chiefs

Here are the lineups:

Knights (38-58)

Marcus Semien 2B

Tyler Saladino DH

Josh Phegley C

Jordan Danks CF

Matt Davidson SS*

Andy Wilkins 1B

Matt Tuiasosopo 3B

Blake Tekotte LF

Michael Taylor RF

Pitching: RHP Daniel McCutchen (0-0, 9.72 ERA)

Chiefs (56-37)

Emmanuel Burriss SS

Zach Walters 2B

Steven Souza Jr. CF

Tyler Moore DH

Brandon Laird 3B

Greg Dobbs 1B

Destin Hood RF

Jhonatan Solano C

Josh Johnson LF

Pitching: RHP Josh Roenicke (4-4, 4.97 ERA)

Game time: 7:05 p.m.

TV/Radio: MiLB.tv / ESPN 730

Notes: Following today’s White Sox game, Chicago optioned RHP Andre Rienzo to the Knights. According to reports out of Chicago, the team plans to add a position player to take Rienzo’s place on the Major League roster. … Just before 6 p.m. today, Knights 2B/ SS Carlos Sanchez was scratched from Charlotte’s lineup and “put on hold” to join the White Sox, according to Knights manager Joel Skinner. … Chicago SS Alexei Ramiez left today’s game in the fourth inning with a back issue. … Tyler Saladino is DHing today because of what Skinner called a “minor forearm thing.” … Knights 2B Micah Johnson is already on his way to the Futures Game (he left at 8 a.m.) and not currently with the club. As a result, Matt Davidson is making his first professional start at SS tonight and Matt Tuiasosopo (who has Major League experience at the position) is starting at 3B.

Knights fall 7-2 to Norfolk despite fireworks late

On a night when the Knights offense lacked its usual firepower, a record crowd of 10,539 at BB&T BallPark simply waited for the game to end for its fireworks show.

Charlotte’s offense mustered just two runs on six hits against Chris Jones (5-5) and the Norfolk Tides in a 7-2 loss this Independence Day.

Asked about what its like to play baseball on the 4th, Knights manager Joel Skinner, who caught for nine seasons in the Major Leagues before becoming a skipper, grew nostalgic.   

“On the 4th of July, you go to the ballpark,” Skinner said. “I can remember when I was in New York, we’d go to the old ballpark in Cleveland on the 4^th and there’d be 80 thousand people. Those are some great memories.”

Although the Knights failed make any lasting memories on the field Friday, the local turnout will surely stick in the minds of the players. Fans lined the fences all the way around the ballpark and thousands more parked themselves on blankets in Romare Bearden Park.

“We always seem to have a big crowd (on the 4^th),” Knights centerfielder Jordan Danks said. “It’s the one night of the year that I actually stick around and watch the fireworks. This is just kind of a special time for us to play and I know we all have fun doing it.” 

As for the game, it wound up being a reminder that over the course of a baseball season, things tend to even out.

Unfortunately for Knights starter Dylan Axelrod (5-7), he found himself on the wrong side of the law of averages. Axelrod had dominated Norfolk in three appearances (two starts) this season, posting a 1-0 record and a 2.77 ERA to go along with 17 strikeouts.

Those numbers came crashing back to Earth like one of those weeping willow-looking plumes of ash that lit up the city sky when the right-hander allowed eight hits, three walks, and five runs in five innings.

The Tides pushed across single runs in the first and third innings, before getting to the Knights pitcher for three in his final inning of work.

Buck Britton and his awesome baseball name knocked in the game’s third run in the fifth with a bases-loaded single. Xavier Paul followed with a sacrifice fly and Steve Lombardozzi – who homered earlier in the game – pushed home a run with a groundout.

Britton finished the night a team-best 4-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.

In the fifth, Charlotte loaded the bases with one out, but failed to score. 

Jordan Danks was able to provide a highlight for fans to go home with when he made a diving catch on a line drive to right center in the eighth inning.  

“I was just trying to make things happen,” said Danks, who finished 0-for-3 with a walk. “Obviously, I wasn’t making things happen with the bat tonight, so I tried to do what I could with the glove.”

The Knights lone run off Jones, who went five innings while scattering three hits and striking out five, came in the fifth when Tyler Saladino doubled and later came into score on a Micah Johnson fielder’s choice.

Matt Tuiasosopo added a solo home run in the ninth.

Notes: Friday’s crowd of 10,539 gives the Knights a total attendance of 422,229 this season. They’re now just 6,903 short of passing their all-time attendance mark of 429,132 set in 2008 at Knights stadium. Charlotte has averaged a minor-league best 9,569 fans per game.

Knights fall to Bats 6-4 in Chris Beck debut

Chris Beck had things on cruise control on Thursday against the Louisville Bats, until he didn’t.

A late night phone call from the White Sox led to an early morning flight from Class AA Birmingham to Charlotte for Beck, who made his first career start with the Knights in the place of Eric Surkamp, whose assistance was required in Chicago.

Riding high on the adrenaline of the morning, Beck, 23,  retired 11 of the first 13 batters he faced, including a stretch of nine in a row, while working between 92 and 96 miles per hour.

Beck caught Donald Lutz looking at an inside fastball for strike three with a runner on and hopped off the mound, rolling the ball on the grass, as he headed for the dugout with another clean inning in tow.

But there was a problem.

“As soon as I (rolled it), I was like man, ‘That’s a bonehead move.’” said Beck, who had just recorded second out of the inning. “It showed that I lost a little focus and you can’t do that.”

The BB&T BallPark scoreboard had been malfunctioning all game and was completely blank at the time of the mix up.

Beck was never the same and the Bats took advantage, knocking the White Sox No. 9 ranked prospect around and handing the Knights a 6-4 loss in front of 10,231 at BB&T BallPark.

The next batter Beck faced, sent a run-scoring single to right and then the first pitch he threw to Rey Navarro landed in the bleachers,  giving the Bats a 3-0 lead in the blink of an eye.

“As a starting pitcher you should know how many outs there are, whether the board’s out or not,” Beck said. “That was a lapse in focus for me and that usually doesn’t happen. I tried to laugh it off, but you know the end result."

The 41-pitch inning did a number on Beck, who issued three walks sandwiched around a strikeout and a fly out in the fifth before heading to the showers.

A two-run single allowed by the Knights pen inflated Beck’s final line to 4.2 innings pitched, five hits, five runs, four walks and four strikeouts.

Opposite Beck was one-time New York Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang, who pitched like in was 2007 again, holding Charlotte to three hits and no earned runs in 7 and 2/3 innings of work.  

With Wang out of the game, the Knights rallied for four runs thanks to two Bats errors and a two-run home run from Matt Tuiasosopo, but the five-run lead Louisville had built was too much.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Charlotte (30-51), which will host the Bats (41-40) again on Friday for the final game of their four-game set.

“It’s good to get the feet wet,” said Beck who was reassigned to Birmingham following the start. “It was a good experience. I learned some things out there that I’m going to take back with me. It was almost like a blink, but hopefully, I’ll be back soon.”

Charlotte Knights rally for rainy 9-8 win over Bats in Shawn Hill's BB&T debut

It’s one of those things in baseball that you can’t really explain. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, but anyone who watches the game enough will swear by it.

More times than not, the player who makes a spectacular defensive play to end an inning, will invariably leadoff the next. Ask around if you’re not familiar with the phenomenon.

It was Jordan Danks who did the honors in an eventual (there was an 1:17 rain delay) Knights 9-8 win over the Louisville Bats in front of a group of 8,548 Tuesday night diehards at BB&T Ballpark.

With a run already home in the top of the sixth inning and the tying run on first, Bats catcher Tucker Barnhart barreled up a ball to dead center.

“It’s kind of a graveyard out there,” Danks had said of his domain earlier this week. “It’s probably one of the areas in the park that really does play true.”

As the ball traveled towards the triangle just below the batter’s eye, so too did the 6-foot-4-inch Danks, his long legs looking giraffe-esk, as they made up ground with each step.

Danks reached out and pulled the ball in over his right shoulder as he hit the warning track.

He then made his way back to the dugout, grabbed his helmet, stepped to the plate and cracked his 11^th home run of the season to put Charlotte up 4-2 moments before the skies opened up.

“It’s a one-out-of-nine chance (of Danks leading off),” Knights manager Joel Skinner said with a chuckle. “That’s the odds. That’s something that people talk about, but that’s always my candid answer. Sometimes I’ll ask the players what the odds are and then say, ‘they’re one-in-nine!’”

Following the delay, things got sloppy.

The Knights added two more runs in what ended up being a two-hour sixth inning on a two-run shot off the bat of Matt Tuiasosopo. Charlotte then allowed four runs in the top of the seventh when Mitchell Boggs came on and was worse than the weather, allowing three hits and a walk while failing to retire a batter.

The four-run inning erased Knights starter Shawn Hill -- who made his BB&T BallPark debut -- from the decision after he had tossed six innings and allowed two runs on five hits and four Ks.

In the bottom half, Charlotte re-took a one-run lead, only to give it back in the top of the eighth and then, once more, reclaim it in the bottom of the eighth. (Are you keeping up?!?)

The game-winning hit came on a two-out RBI single by Carlos Sanchez with two runners aboard that got past the Louisville right fielder, allowing Tyler Saladino to score all the way from first.  

“Give credit to Saladino,” Skinner said. “He kept his head down and gave (third base coach) Ryan (Newman) something to work with coming around third. It was just great base running all around."

Saladino slid into home head first, narrowly beating the throw. 

"I didn’t see much because my back was to the ball and I was running to third," he said. "I was only expecting to go to third and (even at that) I was expecting it to be close because the ball was going to be taking (the outfielder) in that direction. I looked up and Newman was just waving like crazy so I kept on going and got in there safe."

In total, the two teams combined for 12 hits, three walks, and 11 runs after the delay, before Ryan Kussmaul was able to retire the Bats in order in the ninth to record his third save of the season.

Charlotte finished the game with 13 hits, three each by Saladino (3-for-5, 2R) and Micahel Taylor (3-for-4, 2R, RBI). Catcher Miguel Gonzalez hit his first home run with the Knights in the fifth inning.

“We just had good at-bats,” Saladino said. “That’s what it came down to. We swung at good pitches, barreled them up and it worked out.”

Charlotte Knights roster moves: Shawn Hill and Matt Tuiasosopo acquired, Charlie Leesman to DL, and more..

The Charlotte Knights made a flurry of roster moves before heading to Pawtucket to take on the PawSox on Thursday. 

On Wednesday, the Knights added RHP Shawn Hill from the Toronto organization, released outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, and placed LHP Charlie Leesman on the disabled list. 

The following day, Charlotte activated RHP Matt Zaleski off the disabled list and acquired outfielder Matt Tuiasosopo from the Toronto organization. The team also placed LHP Frank De Los Santos on the temporary inactive list, leaving the roster with 25 active players.

Hill, 33, is a veteran of seven Major League seasons. He's made 45 appearances with the Expos, Nationals, Padres and, most recently, the Blue Jays, posting a 10-18 record and a 4.68 ERA. In nine appearances over Class AA and AAA this season, Hill went 2-3 with a 4.94 ERA while posting a 2.89 GO/AO.

Hernandez hit .233 with eight RBIs and six stolen bases over 47 games with Charlotte while playing in both center field and right. His defensive skills in the outfield were fun to watch, but with Jordan Danks now patrolling center field and the tandem of Tyler Saladino and Marcus Semien learning to play in the outfield as well, Hernandez became expendable. He has fourth outfielder potential in the Majors and should catch on with another team quickly. 

Leesman labored in his last start on Tuesday, allowing nine hits and eight runs to Columbus. The start came five days after the left-hander turned in eight shutout innings against Rochester. No specific word yet on Leesman's injury. 

Zaleski is second all-time in Charlotte Knights franchise history in games started (70) and innings pitched (401.0). He has 19 wins in his Knights career and ranks fifth all-time in franchise history in strikeouts (263). The 32-year-old right-hander appeared in five games for Charlotte last season and posted a 1-2 record with a 5.74 ERA. He was placed on the disabled list May 1 and had season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Tuiasosopo, 28, has appeared in 152 MLB games over the last four seasons. In 59 games with Class AAA Buffalo this year, he was hitting .206 with two home runs and 18 RBIs.

De Los Santos has struggled mightily in June, going 0-1 with a 14.21 ERA in three appearances (6.1 IP). Over that span the left-hander allowed 16 hits, 10 runs and issued three free passes.