With 11 runs and 17 hits, including three homers and five doubles, the offensive stats dazzle like fireworks on the Fourth of July. But the most telling numbers in the Knights’ 11-6 win in Jacksonville tonight are those of starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez: six innings, three hits, one earned run, one walk and eight strikeouts.
Lopez needed just 81 pitches, 55 of which were strikes. It is much too soon to tell whether he’s turned a corner on a dreadful 2021 season, but this is by far Lopez’ best outing. Consider that he came into the game with a 2.12 WHIP and .352 batting average against.
Tonight’s win, the fourth in a row for the Knights, was over early. The team opened the top of the first with a walk, double, home run, single, single, double, flyout and sac fly. The bats kept on mashing, with just about everyone getting into the act.
Mikie Mahtook had a home run (tying Tim Beckham for the team lead with 11), three singles and a walk. Blake Rutherford and Matt Reynolds each had two doubles. Yermin Mercedes hit his first home run as a Knight this season; Marco Hernandez had three singles, raising his season’s average to .313; and Nick Williams added a double and an outfield assist. Williams is quietly having a terrific season defensively.
And then there’s Zach Remillard. His slump of early last week is officially dead. He cracked his sixth home run of the season — and fourth in the last seven games. He is 7-23 in those games, with seven runs scored and five RBI.
The only blemish on the evening was the late-game relief work of Tyler Johnson and Ofreidy Gomez, who inherited an 11-1 lead and gave up four hits, a walk and five earned runs.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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