Knights Knotes — May 7, 2018
KNIGHT LIGHTS: The Charlotte Knights (Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox) will open up a four-game series tonight in Lawrenceville, GA against the Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves) from Coolray Field. This is their second meeting of the season already. The Knights went 1–2 against the Stripers at BB&T Ballpark from April 30 to May 2 at BB&T Ballpark. Catcher Kevan Smith hit .625 (5-for-8) in the series (2 games) with two home runs and five RBIs.
ROAD TRIP REPORT: The Knights began an eight-game road trip on Thursday and opened a four-game series in Columbus, OH against the Columbus Clippers (Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians). The Knights (12–17) dropped each of the first two games of the series, but battled back on Saturday night to shut out the Clippers 1–0. Yesterday, the Knights dropped the series finale by a score of 4–3 and went just 1–3 on the four-game series against the Clippers. This trip was their first of two road trips to Huntington Park this season. The Knights will re-visit Columbus, OH from May 18–20.
ABOUT LAST KNIGHT: The Charlotte Knights fell just short in the finale of their four-game series against the Columbus Clippers by a score of 4–3 on Sunday afternoon from Huntington Park in Columbus, OH. The Knights battled back in the top of the ninth inning and scored one run, but were unable to get past the Clippers in Sunday’s game four matchup. With the game tied at 2–2 in the eighth inning, Columbus catcher Eric Haase hit a two-run home run off Charlotte reliever Juan Minaya (0–2, 6.10), who was saddled with the loss. The Clippers took a 4–2 lead into the ninth inning, but ran into a bit of trouble. Second baseman Jake Elmore and shortstop Eddy Alvarez hit back-to-back singles in the ninth inning with one out. Left fielder Jacob May then drove home Elmore on a sacrifice fly, which cut the lead by one, 4–3. Still, that was all the Knights could muster in the final inning and dropped the finale on Sunday.
TODAY’S ROSTER MOVE: OF Mason Robbins, who has appeared in five games this season with the Double-A Birmingham Barons, has been promoted to the Charlotte Knights today (Report TBD). Robbins will not be added to Charlotte’s active roster today. Robbins, 25, was hitting .350 (7-for-20) with one home run and three RBIs this season for the Barons. He began the 2018 campaign on the team’s DL and was recently activated off on April 24. The Leakesville, MS native was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 25th round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Southern Mississippi University.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: LHP Matt Tomshaw (1–0, 8.10) will get the start tonight for the Knights, his third of the season with the team and second this year against Gwinnett. He beat the Stripers at BB&T Ballpark on April 27 after tossing five innings (5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO). Tomshaw, who was promoted to the Charlotte Knights from the Double-A Birmingham Barons on Monday, April 23 (officially added to the team on April 25), made his Charlotte Knights debut on April 27 against the Norfolk Tides at BB&T Ballpark and did not factor in the decision (5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 SO). In three starts with the Barons this season, he posted a 0–1 mark with a 3.52 ERA (15.1 IP). A native of Kingston, NY, Tomshaw was signed by the Chicago White Sox as a free agent on December 15, 2017. Tomshaw last pitched in Triple-A last season with New Orleans (Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins) and posted a 0–1 mark with a 2.12 ERA in eight games. He is a product of Jacksonville University.
CHARLOTTE VS. GWINNETT: Today’s matchup will be Charlotte’s fourth of the season against the Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves). The Knights notched their first win of the season against the Stripers on Wednesday, May 2 at BB&T Ballpark after dropping the first two games of the series…. INF Juan Perez and INF José Rondόn each hit .364 (4-for-11) in the three-game series against the Stripers… Gwinnett became the Stripers during the offseason, changing from the Gwinnett Braves, which they debuted as in 2009… As the Gwinnett Braves, the Knights went 103–102. Since the opening of BB&T Ballpark, the Knights are 28–23 in Uptown Charlotte against Gwinnett… Last year, the Knights went 6–8 at BB&T Ballpark against the Braves and 5–6 in Gwinnett for a total record of 11–14.
WHO’S HOT: Infielder Juan Perez has reached base in 10-straight home games from 4/13 to present. Perez was signed by the Chicago White Sox as a free agent on February 2, 2018… Infielder Matt Skole, who homered in back-to-back games (5/3–5/4), is hitting .353 (6-for-17) in the month of May (5 games) with two home runs and three RBIs… RHP Jeanmar Gómez has not allowed a run over his last 8.1 innings pitched (4 games)… RHP Rob Scahill, who earned his second save of the season on Saturday, has not allowed an earned run over his last six games (6.0 IP).
HOME RUN KNIGHTS: 1B Casey Gillaspie launched his first home run of the season yesterday, a solo shot in the sixth inning off Stephen Fife…The Knights launched three home runs on Friday night. Catcher Kevan Smith homered on Friday, which was his fourth of the season. Before that, he hit a home run in back-to-back games (Tuesday and Wednesday at BB&T Ballpark). His four home runs are tied for the team lead with José Rondόn, who also homered on Friday. Rondόn was promoted to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday… As a team, the Knights have hit 21 home runs.
IL LEADERS: INF Matt Skole is third in the IL this season in walks (19)… OF Jacob May leads the IL in sacrifice hits (4)… In the pitching department, RHP Michael Kopech is third in the IL in strikeouts (38)… RHP Donny Roach leads the IL in innings pitched (37.0) and is tied for first in games started (6)… LHP TJ House is tied for first in the IL in complete games (1)… RHP Rob Scahill is tied for third in games (12)… LHP Xavier Cedeño is tied for the league lead in holds with four… In the team department, the Knights lead the IL in stolen bases with 29.
