KNIGHTS KNOTES — June 14, 2019
KNIGHT LIGHTS: The Charlotte Knights will continue their six-game road trip tonight and open a three-game series against the Rochester Red Wing from Rochester, NY tonight. The Knights opened their six-game road trip on Tuesday, July 11 with game one of a three-game series in Syracuse, NY against the Syracuse Mets. This was the first time in 2019 that the Knights and Syracuse Mets played a game and the first time the Knights faced the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets since 2012 when the Knights faced the Buffalo Bisons at Buffalo, NY on July 23 (finale of a four-game series). The Knights dropped the opener, battled back to win game two, but dropped the finale last night. So far, the Knights are 1–2 on the road trip and are now 14–17 on the road this season.
KNIGHTS VS. RED WINGS: The Knights and Rochester Red Wings will meet for the first time in Rochester, NY this season starting tonight. The two teams met earlier this season at BB&T Ballpark from May 14–16 with the Knights earning a three-game series sweep. In that series, the Knights hit .305 (32-for-105) as a team with nine home runs and 23 RBIs.
ALL-TIME WINNINGEST MANAGER: Rochester Red Wings manager Joel Skinner managed the Charlotte Knights from 2012 to 2015 and finished as the all-time winningest manager in franchise history with 285 wins. In 2016, Skinner spent his final season in the Chicago White Sox system as manager of High-A Winston-Salem, while the Knights welcomed Julio Vinas as manager that year. The Knights have been led by current manager, Mark Grudzielanek, since the 2017 season (three seasons).
HOMETOWN HERO: INF Danny Mendick, a Rochester, NY native, returns home tonight to Frontier Field, where his family has held Red Wings’ season tickets for decades. The local product is a graduate of Pittsford Mendon High School and played his first two seasons of collegiate baseball at Monroe Community College in Rochester. He later went on to play collegiate baseball at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, where he was selected to the ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I Second Team, the NEIBA Second Team, and America East First-Team All-Conference as a senior.
ABOUT LAST KNIGHT: The Charlotte Knights wrapped up their three-game series in Syracuse, NY last night with a 6–5 loss to the Syracuse Mets. OF Joel Booker, who finished the game a triple short of the cycle, launched his first career Triple-A home run last night in the loss. The Knights out-hit the Mets, 12–9 and recorded five doubles on the evening (Daniel Palka had two of the team’s five doubles).
TONIGHT’S STARTER: RHP Dylan Cease (5–2, 4.10) will make his 12th start of the season today. He earned his fifth win of the season back on May 4 against the Gwinnett Stripers (W, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO). Tonight’s start will be the first in his career against Rochester. Ranked as the third-best prospect in the Chicago White Sox organization by Baseball America, Cease started his Triple-A career this season by tossing 12.0 straight scoreless innings (2+ starts).
ORLANDO MAGIC: OF Paulo Orlando extended his hit streak to six games last night and has now hit safely in 23 of his 29 games with the Knights this season. He is hitting .301 (34-for-113) with eight home runs and 19 RBIs with the Knights. Has already has hit two home runs in a game twice this season with the Knights (the other was on May 14 against Rochester). He appeared in 24 games this season with Triple-A Oklahoma City (Los Angeles Dodgers) before being traded to the Chicago White Sox organization on May 10. He has spent parts of four seasons in the majors with the Kansas City Royals (278 career games) and owns a .263 (230-for-874) batting average.
IL LEADERBOARD: INF Ryan Goins is fourth in the IL in batting average (.328) and fifth in on-base percentage (.422)… 1B Matt Skole is tied for third in home runs (17) and fifth in walks (36). He has one more home run yet to be added from the suspended game on May 5. That game will be resumed and completed on June 28… INF Danny Mendick is tied for second in games played (61) and tied for fourth in stolen bases (13)… RHP Dylan Cease is eighth in ERA (4.10) and tied for second in wins (5).
HOME SWEET HOME: The Knights are 22–12 at BB&T Ballpark this season. The team’s 22 home wins are tops in all of Triple-A in 2019. As a team, the Knights are hitting .284 at BB&T Ballpark this season (tops in the IL) with the most home runs in the league (66) and RBIs (225) at home.
