Geez. So much for the momentum from last night’s double header twin walk-offs.
The Norfolk Tides got their revenge tonight, pounding four home runs on the way to an 11-6 win in Charlotte. And it wasn’t really that close as the Tides were up 10-1 after six before the Knights made it respectable.
Tides’ starter Ofelky Peralta, a recent promotion from Double-A, kept the Knights’ potent offense at bay with a fastball that frequently hit 99. The Knights didn’t have a ton of scoring chances, but fell into an old habit of not getting the big hit when they did. A few clutch hits late left them 3-13 with runners in scoring position for the night.
Charlotte’s starter was John Parke, who had pitched well in three previous Triple-A starts following his promotion from Birmingham. And like his other starts, Parke appeared on his game at the outset, getting ground balls on his signature sinking fastball.
But, unlike his other starts, beginning in the second inning, when Parke wasn’t generating ground balls, he was surrendering hard-hit balls, including three home runs, a double and five singles before being pulled with one out in the fifth. Will Carter relieved Parke and gave up a three-run round tripper, the first home run he has allowed this season.
Mikie Mahtook, last night’s hitting star, remained the Knights’ hottest hitter, with three doubles and a single in four trips. For the last 15 days, Mahtook has a batting average of .408 and a slugging percentage of .837. In 49 at bats over that span, he has hammered five home runs and six doubles.
Gavin Sheets also had it locked in tonight, with a homer, double, single and walk in five plate appearances. Jake Burger, who looked a bit rusty last night in his first game back after a 10-day layoff, did what Jake Burger frequently does in Charlotte: hit the ball very hard. Though he only had one hit in five trips to the plate, Burger may have had the hardest hit ball of the night when he had a 107-mph lineout to right field in the first.
Matt Reynolds also chipped in a home run and double.
While it might appear the Knights’ offense was clicking based on the crazy production from Mahtook, Sheets and Reynolds, the rest of the lineup was just 2-22. Yet, even with better offense, the team was likely doomed by a pitching staff that yielded 18 hits, including four home runs. Some shaky defense didn’t help.
Speaking of pitching, manager Wes Helms actually turned to Reynolds, a middle infielder, to pitch the ninth. It was Reynolds’ third appearance of the season, all in desperation.
Injury Update
There is no definitive news. Jonathan Stiever will fly to Chicago to meet with the medical staff early next week to talk about a treatment plan. Surgery remains an option. Stiever felt two pops during a side session a few days ago and a MRI showed lat muscle damage.
More On Last Night’s Two Walk-Off Wins
“I’ve never seen two walk-offs in a double header like that,” Helms said today. “I’ve had walk-offs on back-to-back nights. A win like that last night can really lift a club. A lot of things are falling into place right now for a lot of guys.”
Adolfo’s 111-MPH Blast
Helms didn’t realize at the time that Adolfo’s two-run home run in the second game of the double header was the hardest hit ball in Charlotte so far this season. But he wasn’t surprised.
“We were talking yesterday after the first game,” Helms said, “when he hit the home run to the opposite field about how he’s making adjustments and we looked at each other and said, look, when he gets more consistent, he’s going to hit balls that fans and the other team will just sit back and admire. He’s that kind of player and he has Eloy Jimenez-type power and he’s starting to show it now. He’s a major league outfielder (defensively) right now. Once the consistency comes at the plate, there’s no telling what he can do.”
Going Against the Book and Not Bunting in Game Two
When game two went into extra innings, reliever Bennett Sousa pitched masterfully to get out of the top of the first extra frame unscathed. That meant the Knights would start the bottom half of the inning with the winning run on second base.
With no outs, and only needing one run to win, conventional wisdom is to bunt the runner to third. But Helms elected instead to let the Knights’ lead-off hitter, Laz Rivera, hit away, and he delivered the game-winner, with a double over the center fielder’s head.
Explained Helms: “CJ (hitting coach Chris Johnson) and I talked about it. In that situation, you had a lefty on the mound who is pretty good against lefties, and we had Blake (Rutherford, a lefty) behind Rivera so our thinking was, with the way Rivera has been swinging the bat, and he already had a double, let’s just cut him loose. And it paid off. If it hadn’t, then I would have questioned myself. You have to go with your gut there. I told Laz going up there, get you a pitch you can drive center to opposite field because worst case I wanted the runner (on second) at third base.”
Where Have All The Starting Pitchers Gone?
The Knights’ suddenly find themselves with a starting-pitcher shortage. After the call-ups of Reynaldo Lopez and Wright, and the injury to Stiever, the team has Parke and Kade McClure, both recently promoted from Birmingham; Alex McRae; and Jimmy Lambert, though he is on a tight pitch count as the team tries to manage his workload so he is available to the White Sox in September.
I asked Helms if there is help on the way.
“I really don’t have an answer on that right now,” he said. “I would say that in this series, we are going to go with what we have, and then probably re-evaluate it. I think we were waiting on the Stiever thing, and now that Wright is gone, yeah, we’ll have to talk through this the next few days because we’re going to go through the bullpen this week. We’ve already told them, be ready. At least tonight we’ve got a starter, tomorrow is a bullpen game, and then Jimmy (Lambert) will probably be on a shorter pitch count on Saturday and then McRae again on Sunday, so we’re going to get into the bullpen pretty quick three of the next four days. I would think it would be talked about over the next few days about getting at least one more starter to help us through September.”
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