Forgive me if you’ve heard this one: Jake Burger had a great night at the plate and Mike Wright pitched a terrific game. As a result, the Knights beat the Norfolk Tides 7-4 in Charlotte tonight.
Coming off a four-hit, two-walk game on Tuesday, Burger flied out in the first before hammering an RBI double (102 mph exit velo) in the third and a single in the sixth. In the seventh, Burger proved he is human by grounding into a doubleplay.
His two hits tonight boosted his batting average to a season-high .322 while his OPS stands at a gaudy .964.
Wright, meanwhile, went seven innings, giving up five hits and four earned runs. He hit one batter, walked none, struck out five and gave up a solo homer in the first. He was tagged with three earned runs in the fourth, though a lot of it was the result of some tough luck. On one play, Zach Remillard — a third baseman playing first base — lost a foul pop-up to keep an at bat alive. On another, right fielder Mikie Mahtook’s error allowed a hitter to advance to second on a single. And in the same inning, a tailor-made doubleplay ball only netted one out because the defense was in the shift and no one was available to cover the secondbase bag.
It was Wright’s ninth start of the season. He improves to 5-1 for the year and has pitched at least five innings in every start. His ERA actually rose to 2.77 after tonight’s effort.
Scanning the Box Score
Seby Zavala broke out of a slump with his fifth homer of the season. Zavala has struggled the past few weeks since returning from about 10 days off because of concussion-like symptoms.
Tim Beckham and Mahtook also had doubles tonight, and Blake Rutherford had two singles. Tayron Guerrero pitched the eighth to earn his first hold and Nik Turley pitched the ninth to pick up his fourth save of the season.
Burger Selected for the Futures Game
Major League Baseball recognized Burger’s phenomenal season today with a selection to the Futures Game, a prestigious minor league all-star game played during MLB All-Star week. He’ll join an American League roster of some of the game’s highest-rated prospects like Spencer Torkelson, Bobby Witt, Jeter Downs, Riley Greene and many more. Also selected to the squad is his fellow White Sox organization-mate Yoelqui Cespedes, who is also wielding a hot bat these days.
Roster News
Jace Fry was recalled to Chicago. He joins the White Sox active roster along with Michael Kopech while Aaron Bummer and Evan Marshall go on the IL.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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