KNIGHTS KNOTES — June 13, 2021
KNIGHT LIGHTS: The Charlotte Knights opened a six-game road series on Tuesday night against the Durham Bulls, Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, from Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, NC. The Bulls (24–10) are now tied for first in the Triple-A East Southeast Division with the Nashville Sounds (24–10). The Knights (12–22) are seventh in the Triple-A East Southeast Division.
AGAINST THE BULLS: The Knights and Bulls will wrap up their six-game series today with the finale at 5:05 p.m. from Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Bulls won five of the six games against the Knights in their last six-game series back in May. Charlotte’s lone win in that series came on May 20 in a 6–4 win. With another loss last night in game five of this series, the Knights have dropped four of five and are now 2–9 this season against the Bulls.
ABOUT LAST KNIGHT: The Charlotte Knights dropped game five of the six-game series against the Durham Bulls by a score of 11–0 on Saturday from Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Charlotte RHP Jonathan Stiever (2–2, 5.19) started and allowed five runs on five hits over five innings. He struck-out seven batters and was charged with the game five loss. Durham scored their first five runs over the first five innings against Stiever and later added five more runs in the seventh inning against Charlotte reliever Connor Sadzeck. Durham left fielder Nathan Lukes went 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs to lead the Bulls.
ROSTER MOVE: C Evan Skoug (SCOW-g), who was promoted to the Charlotte Knights from High-A Winston-Salem on June 3, was assigned back to the Dash today. Skoug, 25, appeared in three games with the Knights and went 1-for-7 at the plate with a double and a run scored. He has appeared in 13 games with the Dash this season and was hitting .139 (5-for-36) with three runs scored, one double and two RBIs. He was drafted by the White Sox in the seventh round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of TCU.
REY OF LIGHT: INF Matt Reynolds had one of Charlotte’s three hits last night and now has a seven-game hitting streak (6/4-present). Reynolds has enjoyed an impressive month of June at the plate. In 10 games during the month of June, he is hitting .344 (11-for-32) with four runs scored, one double, one triple, and four RBIs.
LAST FOUR STARTS: RHP Mike Wright (3–1, 2.21) has been one of the top pitchers in Triple-A this season. With a win on Friday night, he has now won three-straight starts. Over his last four starts, Wright is 3–0 with a 1.69 ERA (26.2 IP, 13 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 27 SO).
LEAGUE LEADER: RHP Mike Wright is currently among the Triple-A East leaders in a number of categories. His 2.21 ERA on the season is the fourth-best in the league. He is also tied for third in strikeouts (42), tied for third in batting average against (.178), second in WHIP (0.90), tied for seventh in IP (36.2) and tied for ninth in wins (3).
NO BULL: INF Tim Beckham has enjoyed hitting against his former team and organization this series. Beckham, who homered in back-to-back games to begin this series, was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays as the first overall pick in the June 2008 First-Year Player Draft. In five games this series, Beckham has three multi-hit games and a total of seven hits. He is hitting .350 (7-for-20) in the series with two home runs and eight RBIs.
FROM THE SOUTH TO THE SOUTH SIDE: With the promotion of OF Brian Goodwin, the Knights have sent seven players to the Chicago White Sox this season. Those players in order are: INF Danny Mendick (May 4), RHP Alex McRae (May 14), RHP Ryan Burr (May 27), RHP Zack Burdi (May 29), RHP Jimmy Lambert (May 31), 1B/OF Gavin Sheets (June 3) and OF Brian Goodwin (June 10).
TO-KNIGHTS STARTING PITCHER: RHP Jimmy Lambert (0–0, 5.51) will make his seventh start of the season today and second of 2021 against the Bulls. Lambert allowed one run on one hit against the Bulls in Durham back on May 21. Lambert was then promoted to Chicago on May 31 and earned the start for the Sox in game two of their doubleheader. He allowed three runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings and was saddled with the loss. He was returned to Charlotte after the game. Last season, Lambert made two appearances for the Chicago White Sox and did not allow a run in two innings of work. He entered the 2021 season ranked as the number 13 prospect in Chicago’s system by Baseball America.
