Today in Knights History: May 2, 2015
May 2, 2015
Sanchez Rips Two Homers, Knights Derail RailRiders 10–4 on Saturday
Red-Hot Charlotte Second Baseman Has Reached Base in His Last 10 Plate Appearances
(UPTOWN CHARLOTTE, NC) — Carlos Sánchez finished Friday’s game going 5-for-5 at the plate. A day later, he remained red-hot.
Sanchez went a perfect 4-for-4 with two home runs and seven RBIs as the Charlotte Knights beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders by a score of 10–4 on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,335 fans at BB&T Ballpark in Uptown Charlotte. Sanchez, who homered from both sides of the plate, has now reached base in his last 10 plate appearances.
After beginning the season with the Chicago White Sox, Sanchez, 22, was optioned to Charlotte on April 11. A day later, he began his torrid pace. Sanchez strung together a 14-game hit-streak — hitting .369 over that span. For his hot start, he was rewarded with International League Batter of the Week honors for the week of April 13–19.
After his perfect performance at the plate on Friday, he went to work quickly on Saturday.
Sanchez launched his first home run of the season — a two-run shot — in the bottom of the first inning. An inning later, he added a double. Two innings later, he singled to pull within a triple short of the cycle.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Sanchez drew a walk. Two innings later — with two runners on base — he cleared the bases with a three-run home run. His four-hit night helped the Knights to their sixth win over their last eight games.
Sanchez also moved up the ranks in Charlotte Knights franchise history. The Venezuelan infielder now has 277 hits for his Knights career — which ranks seventh all-time. He’s now just five hits away from moving into a tie for fifth place on the all-time list.
Charlotte starter Chris Beck (1–1, 4.78) allowed two runs on eight hits over six innings en-route to his first win of the season. Beck struck-out four batters on the evening.
Charlotte center fielder Leury García went 4-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored and one RBI. Garcia, who raised his average to .281 on the season, also swiped his 10th base of the year. Neftali Soto chipped in with two hits and two RBIs on the night.
Chicago White Sox right-handed pitcher Javy Guerra made his third Major League rehab appearance with Charlotte and did not allow a run or hit in the seventh inning. Guerra threw 14 pitches, eight for strikes.
The Knights scored five of their 10 runs off RailRiders starter Jaron Long (0–2, 7.23), who was saddled with the loss. Long allowed two runs in the first and three in the second inning.
