KNIGHTS KNOTES — August 20, 2019
KNIGHT LIGHTS: The Knights kicked-off a four-game road series at Durham Bulls Athletic Park last night with game one against the Durham Bulls. The Knights are down to their final seven road games of the 2019 regular season. Charlotte has three games left in this series and then wraps up the regular season with four games in Norfolk, Va from August 30-September 2. With the win last night in Durham, the Knights have won eight of their last 10 road games.
ABOUT LAST KNIGHT: The Charlotte Knights used four home runs (Yermín Mercedes, Luis Robert, Yoán Moncada, and Seby Zavala) and 5.1 solid innings from LHP Kyle Kubat (5–1, 4.84) to sneak past the Durham Bulls last night by a score of 13–11 in the opening game of a big four-game series from Durham, NC. The Bulls scored 10 runs over their final four innings to come back from an 11–1 deficit, but the Knights held on for the win. Robert now has three home runs and six RBIs over his last two games.
FIRST PLACE KNIGHTS: With their win yesterday, the Knights took over sole possession of the International League Wild Card Standings, one game ahead of the Durham Bulls. The Knights, who still have 13 games left during the 2019 regular season, now have six games left against the Bulls (continuing tonight) and seven games left against the Norfolk Tides. The Knights are also now just 2.5 back of the first-place Gwinnett Stripers in the IL South Division.
KNIGHTS VS. BULLS: The Knights are now 8–9 against the Bulls this season with six games left to play. The Knights are hitting .269 with 31 home runs and 97 RBIs as a team against the Bulls. C/1B Zack Collins has hit five home runs against the Bulls in 10 games this season.
WINNING WAYS: The Knights are now 9–3 over their last 12 games, 12–3 over their last 15 games, and 16–5 over their last 21 games. The Knights won a season-high six-straight games from August 3 to August 10. As a team in August, the Knights are 12–5 and are hitting .294 (171-for-581) with 38 home runs and 118 RBIs.
HOME RUN KNIGHTS: With nine home runs over their last two games, the Knights find themselves tied for the most home runs this season in the International League with Columbus (195). INF Yoán Moncada’s fourth-inning home run in game two of Saturday’s twin bill broke the Charlotte Knights’ franchise record for home runs in a season (185) with the 186th home run of the season. The the all-time mark, set back in 1993, came during Charlotte’s first as a Triple-A franchise. Charlotte’s 195 home runs this season are now 92 more than they hit all of last year (103). This year, 28 different players have hit a home run, which is a franchise record.
MONCADA REHABBING: INF Yoán Moncada continued his Major League Baseball Rehab Assignment with the Charlotte Knights last night and launched his second homer with the Knights in four games. Moncada, 24, is hitting .353 (6-for-17) with three runs scored, two home runs, and five RBIs with Charlotte on the rehab stint. He is hitting .301 (112-for-372) with 58 runs scored, 21 doubles, three triples, 20 home runs, 59 RBIs, and seven stolen bases in 97 games with the White Sox this season.
TO-KNIGHTS STARTING PITCHER: LHP Justin Nicolino (7–6, 6.05) will get the start tonight for the Knights. With the Knights this season, Nicolino is 6–5 with a 6.22 ERA in 105.2 IP in 18 games. Nicolino was signed by the Chicago White Sox as a free agent on May 5. He began the season in the Minnesota organization and was released by the club after he went 1–1 with a 5.12 ERA in four games (three starts) with the Rochester Red Wings (19.1 IP).
REIGNING IL BATTER OF THE WEEK: Yesterday, C/1B Zack Collins, who hit .538 (14-for-26) with eight runs scored, three doubles, four home runs, and nine RBIs over seven games with the Charlotte Knights last week, was named as the International League’s Batter of the Week for the period of August 12–18. Collins is Charlotte’s third player this season to earn IL Batter of the Week honors and second in as many weeks. Last week, the IL rewarded INF Ramón Torres with the weekly honor. OF Daniel Palka was named IL Batter of the Week earlier this season (May 13–20).
HOME SWEET HOME: The Charlotte Knights wrapped up a successful, seven-game, six-day stretch at BB&T Ballpark with an 8–2 win on Sunday. With the victory, the Knights finished their homestand with a 5–2 record and improved to 41–23 at BB&T Ballpark this season. The 41 wins are the most by an International League team at home this season. The Knights are down to their final six home games of the 2019 regular season, with eight games on the road still to play.
