Knights Knotes — 7/27/22
KNIGHT LIGHTS: The Charlotte Knights (34–60) will continue the second half of the season tonight and play game two of a six-game road series against Nashville Sounds (56–37) from First Horizon Park with first pitch at 8:05 p.m. ET.
RECENT ROAD TRIP: The Knights are currently 1–3 on this nine-game road trip after dropping two of three against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to start the trip (Friday-Sunday). Charlotte started this series with a loss in game one last night. The Knights are just 15–31 this season on the road.
SOUNDS SERIES: The Knights are just 1–6 so far this season against the Nashville Sounds after the two teams met in one six-game series at Nashville, TN from April 19–24. Charlotte’s lone win this season against the Sounds came on Wednesday, April 21 (5–1). The Knights tonight’s game having lost four straight games against the Sounds.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS SEASON SERIES: OF Blake Rutherford leads the way in this season series, batting .350 (7-for-20) with three runs scored, one double and four walks in six games against the Sounds this year… Catcher Nick Ciuffo has appeared in three games this season against the Sounds and is hitting .333 (3-for-9) with one run scored, two doubles and two RBIs.
ABOUT LAST KNIGHT: OF Mark Payton had two hits and two RBIs, but the Charlotte Knights fell to the Nashville Sounds by a score of 5–2 on Tuesday night in the opening game of the six-game series from First Horizon Park in Nashville, TN. The Knights started off strong and had a 2–0 lead thanks to Payton’s two-run double in the fifth inning. It proved to be Charlotte’s only runs of the game as the Sounds battled back to score five unanswered runs the rest of the way against the Knights.
SOLID PITCHING: LHP Kyle Kubat started for the Knights last night and was sharp over five innings. Kubat struck out six batters and allowed just one run on two hits. He allowed his first and only run of the game in the fifth inning on a solo home run to Mark Mathias. Kubat left the game with a 2–1 lead after five full innings.
X-EFFECT: C/1B Xavier Fernández had two hits last night and now has five hits over his last three games. He had a three-hit day, including a home run and two RBIs on July 17 against Lehigh Valley at Truist Field.
LOOKING AHEAD: RHP Davis Martin is scheduled to start Thursday’s game. He was optioned to Charlotte on July 23. Martin, 25, has made seven starts with the Knights this season and owns a 3–2 record with a 4.01 ERA over 33.2 IP. He began the 2022 season with Double-A Birmingham and went 2–1 with a 3.00 ERA in five starts with the Barons (24.0 IP). With the White Sox, he is 1–2 with a 4.29 ERA in five games (two starts) over 21.0 IP.
