Knights Knotes: April 12, 2017
KNIGHT LIGHTS: The Charlotte Knights (Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox) continue their seven-game road trip and their four-game series against the Durham Bulls (Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays) tonight with game three of the four-game set. Charlotte is in search of its first road win of the season tonight after having dropped each of the first two games of this series. The team’s last road win came on August 28, 2016 at Norfolk. Overall, the Knights are 2–8 over their last 10 road games dating back to August 19, 2016 at Gwinnett.
ABOUT LAST KNIGHT: The Knights came up just short in Tuesday’s game two matchup from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, losing to the Durham Bulls by a score of 4–3. The Knights scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning and nearly tied the game, but Nicky Delmonico was tagged out at home plate for the game’s final out. Willy Garcia led the way with two hits and two RBIs. Durham sluggers Johnny Field and Mike Marjama each homered to lead the Durham Bulls offensive attack on Tuesday. Both of the home runs came off Charlotte RHP Reynaldo Lopez (0–1, 6.48), who was saddled with the loss. Making his second start of the season — and second in Chicago’s organization — Lopez struck-out 10 batters over 5.1 innings but was charged with his first loss of the year. The 23-year-old Dominican native gave up four runs on four hits on the night as the Knights lost for the second time in as many nights.
DAYS OF HAYES: 1B Danny Hayes went 2-for-3 with two doubles and walk last night and has now reached base safely in 10 consecutive games dating back to June 14, 2016. Over that stretch, Hayes is batting .313 (10-for-32) with 11 walks, seven runs scored, two home runs and eight RBIs. Hayes launched two home runs, including a grand slam, on Saturday, April 8th at BB&T Ballpark. Hayes launched a grand slam with the Knights last season (April 22).
HOME SWEET HOME: The Knights opened the 2017 season at BB&T Ballpark on April 6th and went 4–0 on their opening homestand against the Norfolk Tides (Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles). Over that stretch, the team hit .375 (60-for-160), swatted seven home runs, scored 39 runs, and had a .442 on base percentage. So far in two road games in Durham, the Knights are 0–2, have scored seven runs, and are hitting .188 (12-for-64) with two home runs and seven RBIs as a team.
LEADING KNIGHTS: The Knights have recorded an International League high 72 hits in six games this season. Saturday’s 15-run output was a season-high, which also included a season-high of six home runs in the game. With three runs last night, they have now scored a total of 46 runs in six games, which is also tops in the IL this season. In addition, the Knights also are first in the IL in batting average (.321), tied for first in the IL in home runs (9), first in RBIs (42), and first in on base percentage (.409).
REIGNING BATTER OF THE WEEK: Charlotte outfielder Willy Garcia, who hit .533 (8-for-15) with two home runs, nine runs scored, and four RBIs over four games last week, was named as the International League’s Batter of the Week for the period of April 6–9, as announced by the International League of Professional Baseball Clubs, Inc. on Monday morning. After recording two hits in last night’s game, Garcia has now hit safely in all six games this season. He’s now batting .500 (11-for-22) with two home runs and six RBIs in six games. He’s tied for second in the IL in batting average, and second in hits (11). Claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 6, 2017, Garcia is in his first season in the Chicago White Sox organization. The 24-year-old spent the entire 2016 season with the Indianapolis Indians (Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates) and hit .245 with six home runs and 43 RBIs in 129 games. He led all IL outfielders in games played (128) and assists (17). For his efforts in the field last season, he was named as the Indianapolis Indians Defensive Player of the Year.
TOKNIGHTS STARTING PITCHER: RHP Carson Fulmer (1–0, 3.00) gets the nod to start game three tonight against the Bulls. Fulmer, a product of Vanderbilt University, will make just his sixth career Triple-A start tonight and will look to build off his last outing — back on April 7. On that day, Fulmer beat the Tides with six solid innings (6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO). The 23-year-old hurler, who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2015 draft, started four games for the Knights last season and went 2–1 with a 3.94 ERA (16.0 IP). Fulmer began the 2016 campaign with Double-A Birmingham and posted a 4–9 record with a 4.76 ERA in 17 starts (87.0 IP). He made his major league debut on July 17, 2017 and struck-out two batters over two scoreless innings. He went 0–2 with an 8.49 ERA in eight games with the South Siders last season.
DURHAM’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP Chih-Wei Hu (0–0, 1.80) makes the start tonight for the Bulls — his second of the season. Ranked as the number five prospect in the Tampa Bay organization by Baseball America, Hu allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits over five innings on April 7 in Gwinnett. Hu, 23, did not factor in the decision in the game, which was just his second career Triple-A start. In 24 starts last season for Double-A Montgomery, he posted a 7–8 record with a 2.59 ERA (143 IP). He was originally signed by the Minnesota Twins out of Taiwan for $220,000 in 2012. The Rays acquired him in a July 2015 trade for Kevin Jepsen.
