KNIGHTS KNOTES — May 23, 2021
KNIGHT LIGHTS: The Charlotte Knights will continue their first road trip of the 2021 season in Durham, NC against the Durham Bulls at Durham Bulls Athletic Park with a 5:05 p.m. first pitch today for game six of the six-game series. Tonight’s finale concludes the first half of the road trip. The Knights are in the midst of playing 12 games on the trip over a 13-game span (off day on Monday, May 24).
ABOUT LAST KNIGHT: Third baseman Jake Burger and designated hitter Mikie Mahtook both homered for the second consecutive day, but the Durham Bulls scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to go on for an 8–7 win over the Charlotte Knights on Saturday in game five of the six-game series from Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Bulls scored four runs over the final three innings of Saturday’s game.
BURGER KING: 3B Jake Burger launched his team-high sixth home run of the season last night and is tied for fifth in the Triple-A East in that category. 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), Burger has now homered in back-to-back games and has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games. He entered the season ranked as the number 16 prospect in Chicago’s system by MLB.com.
MIKIE LIKES IT: For the second consecutive game, OF Mikie Mahtook homered against his former team, the Durham Bulls. Mahtook has appeared in three of the road games on this road trip and is hitting .300 (3-for-10) with two home runs and three RBIs.
GONE STREAKING: OF Mikie Mahtook currently has a seven-game hitting streak (May 9-present) and has scored a run in five-straight games (May 14-present)… The longest hitting streak of the season is nine games by both INF Marco Hernández and 1B/OF Gavin Sheets.
HOME RUN KNIGHTS: Through 16 games this season, the Knights have now tallied 27 home runs on the year, which is tied for second in the Triple-A East. The Bulls are first with 32. 3B Jake Burger has the team lead in homers with six.
KNIGHTS WITH A “K”: The Charlotte Knights pitching staff has recorded 180 strikeouts this season, which is third in the Triple-A East. The Durham Bulls are first with 194. RHP Mike Wright (0–1, 2.81) had nine strikeouts in Wednesday’s game and has 24 strikeouts over 16.0 innings pitched. He is fifth in the Triple-A East in strikeouts.
TWO HOMER GAMES: 1B/OF Gavin Sheets launched two home runs on Sunday, May 16th — his first two-homer game over his professional career. On Thursday, OF Brian Goodwin connected on two solo home runs. It was his first two-homer game since August 30, 2019 against the Boston Red Sox as a member of the LA Angels and the sixth two-homer game of his career.
LEAGUE LEADERS: INF Marco Hernández is seventh in the Triple-A East in batting average (.373), tied for second in doubles (6), tied for sixth in hits (22) and tied for eighth in total bases (34)… Jake Burger is tied for fifth in home runs (6) and tied for sixth in extra-base hits (9)… 1B/OF Gavin Sheets is tied for eighth in hits (20).
REIGNING PLAYER OF THE WEEK: INF Marco Hernández 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.
TO-KNIGHTS STARTING PITCHER: LHP Matt Tomshaw (0–1, 5.84) will make his second start of the season today and fourth overall appearance. He has come out of the Charlotte bullpen twice this season, including back on May 18 in game one of this series. He allowed just two runs over five strong innings in relief of RHP Reynaldo López. Last year, Tomshaw pitched for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the Independent America Association. He went 5–3 with a 2.69 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) over 80.1 innings pitched. In 2019, Tomshaw posted a 4–2 record with a 3.93 ERA and 32 strikeouts over 36.1 IP (11 games/5 games started) with the Knights.
NEXT UP: The Knights will play the final six games of this 12-game road trip in Norfolk, VA against the Norfolk Tides from Harbor Park (May 25-May 30). The Knights won five of six games against Norfolk from May 11–16 at Truist Field earlier this season.
