It has been a recipe for disaster when a Knights starter gets knocked out early. Invariably, one or more of the four or five relievers parading in from the bullpen will implode and the game gets out of hand, as it did again Wednesday in a 7-4 loss to Nashville.
Reynaldo Lopez was the starter and he labored through two innings, throwing 53 pitches — only 26 of which were strikes. He gave up two hits and issued four walks and a wild pitch but managed to limit the damage to just two runs.
Whether it has been short pitch counts (Jimmy Lambert in particular) or just plain ineffectiveness, it is not uncommon for Knights starters to only manage two or three innings. And the Knights’ bullpen — first in bases on balls and last in WHIP in the 20-team Triple-A East — have not proven to be effective enough to come up with six or seven quality innings a night.
Tonight, for example, Tanner Banks, Alex McRae, Kodi Medeiros and Will Carter combined for seven innings; nine hits, including two home runs; five earned runs; six walks; 12 strikeouts; and two wild pitches.
Banks and McRae were actually fairly effective, but McRae was asked to try to get through a third inning of work when he ran out of gas and loaded the bases. Medeiros then came on and walked two and let another run in on a wild pitch and the game was out of hand.
Making matters worse is that routine fly balls often leave Truist Field. That is especially dangerous given the high number of walks being issued by the Knights’ pen, too often including lead-off batters.
“We want them to understand, in a ballpark like this,” manager Wes Helms said, “you attack the first hitter. Pop-ups can go out of this ballpark. It is not your traditional ballpark. We preach to them, attack the first hitter, go after the first hitter and set the tone. Z (pitching coach Matt Zaleski) is stressing to them to dominate the zone, locate, and don’t put yourself in a position when one of those pop-up homeruns results in two or three runs as opposed to just one run. It is a challenge. This is a tough ballpark to pitch in.”
Tonight’s Good News
While the pitching staff was surrendering 11 hits, 10 walks (and, to be fair, 15 strikeouts) and seven earned runs, veteran Zach Godley was limiting the Knights’ offense to just one hit over seven innings. Yet, Gavin Sheets, Jake Burger and Luis Gonzalez had their moments.
For Burger, it came in the 8th, when he ripped a double off the right field wall, just inches from a home run, with an exit velo of 103 mph. Also in the 8th, Gonzalez hammered a frozen rope RBI single, with an exit velo of 96. Gavin Sheets’ seven-game hit streak came to an end, though he did add his club-high 20th RBI with a first-inning groundout.
Like one night earlier, the Knights attempted to climb out of a big hole with a late rally that came up just a bit short.
Photo credit: Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights
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