KNIGHTS KNOTES — May 18, 2021
KNIGHT LIGHTS: The Charlotte Knights hit the road today for their first road trip of the 2021 season. The trip begins tonight in Durham, NC against the Durham Bulls at Durham Bulls Athletic Park with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch. The Knights will play 12 games on the trip over a 13-game span (off day on Monday, May 24). The Knights will play the final six games of the road trip in Norfolk, VA against the Norfolk Tides from Harbor Park (May 25-May 30).
KNIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS: After dropping five of their first six games of the season in a series against the Gwinnett Stripers from Truist Field (May 4–9), the Knights won five of six games against the Norfolk Tides to get back to the .500 mark (6–6) for the first time since May 5 when they were 1–1.
THE LAST KNIGHTS GAME: A six-run eighth inning — highlighted by the second home run of the day from Gavin Sheets — propelled the red-hot Charlotte Knights to an impressive 13–6 win over the Norfolk Tides in the finale of their six-game series from Truist Field on Sunday. RHP Jonathan Stiever (1–0, 3.00) fanned nine batters over five innings to earn his first career Triple-A win.
FOUR-GAME WIN STREAK: The Knights enter today’s series against the Durham Bulls with a four-game winning streak. The Knights have won five of their last six games. Charlotte’s last four-game winning streak took place August 19–22, 2019 against the Durham Bulls in Durham, NC.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: INF Marco Hernández, who is hitting .432 (19-for-44) over 12 games this season, was named as the Triple-A East Player of the Week for the week ending on May 16. For the week, Hernández appeared in all six games with the Knights (May 11–16) and hit an impressive .478 (11-for-23) with eight runs scored, four doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs. He had three multi-hit games during the week and recorded a four-hit game on May 15. He is in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak. Currently, his .432 batting average ranks fourth in the Triple-A East this season. He is also among the league leaders in doubles with six (tied for first), total bases with 31 (tied for third), extra-base hits with eight (tied for fourth) and slugging percentage with a .705 mark (10th).
HIT STREAKS: INF Marco Hernández is currently in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak (5/7-present)… 1B/OF Gavin Sheets currently has an eight-game hitting streak (5/8-present)… OF Blake Rutherford is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak (5/9-present).
CAREER DAY: 1B/OF Gavin Sheets launched two home runs in Sunday’s finale — his first two-homer game over his professional career. He is tied for second on the team with 3B Jake Burger with three long balls. Gavin’s dad, Larry, played for the Charlotte O’s in 1980 and again in 1983.
BURGER KING: In his first season at the Triple-A level and first season since 2017 (missed 2018 & 2019 to injuries and 2020 to the cancellation of the MiLB season), 3B Jake Burger is second on the team in home runs (3) and tied for third in RBIs (9). He has recorded a hit in six of his last seven games and he homered in three consecutive games from May 9–12. He entered the season ranked as the number 16 prospect in Chicago’s system by MLB.com.
HOME RUN KNIGHTS: Through 12 games this season, the Knights have now tallied 18 home runs on the year, which is tied for fourth in the Triple-A East. The Bulls are first with 26. Catcher Seby Zavala is the team leader with four and is tied for fourth in the Triple-A East.
TO-KNIGHTS STARTING PITCHER: RHP Reynaldo López (0–1, 3.60) will make his second start of the season tonight. Making his first start with the Knights in 1,375 days (since August 6, 2017), López was solid over five innings of work on May 12th. The 27-year-old, who was activated off the team’s IL earlier in the day, fanned eight batters and allowed just two runs on the night. Despite the solid effort in his first start of the season, López was saddled with the loss.
