Usually, the fireworks come at the end of the game. Charlotte Knights’ reliever Nik Turley and the home plate umpire had a heated argument — and near confrontation — in the bottom of the 9th, leading to Turley and manager Wes Helms being ejected.
The other key moment occurred in the top of the 10th when the Knights had two on and no outs. Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets and Seby Zavala would strike out, though, setting the stage for a 5-4 walk-off Bulls’ win in the bottom of the frame.
The loss wasted a brilliant start by Mike Wright, who held a strong Bulls lineup to just three hits and one run over six innings while walking two and striking out nine. Wright was a model of efficiency, throwing 86 pitches, 63 of which were strikes.
The lone offensive highlight was Nate Nolan, who put the Knights up 3-1 with a three-run homer in the 5th, which was just his second hit of the season. Kodi Medeiros followed Wright and pitched a clean 7th inning. But an inconsistent bullpen has been an Achilles heel for the Knights, and the problem surfaced yet again in the 8th when Will Carter hit the lead-off hitter, walked the second batter and then allowed both runners to score before Nik Turley entered the game and put out the fire.
Turley was back out in the bottom of the 9th, and repeatedly displayed his displeasure with home plate umpire Jacob Metz, who had an inconsistent strike zone and called balls on several pitches that appeared to catch some of the plate. After Turley walked his second batter of the inning, manager Wes Helms came out to the mound clearly just to have a chat with Metz.
When Metz approached the mound to break up the meeting, Turley and Helms let him have it. It was unclear, but Metz may have said something that enraged Turley, who exploded, appeared to bump Metz and then began to charge after the umpire but was held back by teammates. Helms made his feeling known to Metz as well and was also ejected. Turley will almost certainly face a suspension when the league office weighs in.
After the dust settled and calm returned, Danny Dopico came on to get out of the inning to send it to extras.
Marco Hernandez was placed on second base to start the 10th and immediately went to 3rd on a wild pitch. Luis Gonzalez worked a walk and then Blake Rutherford bounced a dribbler up the middle for an RBI. The Knights looked to tack on with the heart of their order coming up with Gonzalez on second and Rutherford on first.
On the mound for the Bulls was Yacksel Rios, a righthander with an overpowering fastball, who had come into the game in the top of the 9th with the bases loaded. He proceeded to strike out Nolan and Hernandez and returned for the 10th. With the game on the line, he fanned Burger, Sheets and Zavala to keep the Knights’ lead at just 4-3. Dopico got into trouble in the bottom of the 10th and the Bulls eventually pushed across the two runs for the win.
The Knights actually out-hit the Bulls, 7-6, but could not get a timely hit in the clutch. Burger and Sheets were each 0-for-5 in the game, while Zavala and Rutherford were each 1-for-4.
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