There are times when Blake Rutherford looks like the can’t-miss prospect he was thought to be when he was taken in the first round of the 2016 draft. Tonight was one of those nights.
In the Knights’ 9-2 win over the Durham Bulls in Charlotte, Rutherford cracked two home runs and a double, tallied three runs and knocked in five.
After a rough couple of months to start the season, Rutherford seems to be finding his groove. For the last two weeks, his slash line is an impressive .327/.345/.712. His double gives him 26 on the year, tied for the top spot in the league.
But Rutherford wasn’t alone: eight of the Knights’ 10 hits were for extra bases.
In addition to Rutherford’s two round trippers, Romy Gonzalez hit a sweet, two-strike opposite-field shot (to go along with a walk and a stolen base). Back-up catcher Nate Nolan chipped in two doubles, and Gavin Sheets and Mikie Mahtook each had one, along with Rutherford.
Sheets’ double, in two official at bats, plus two walks and three runs scored, represented a nice bounce-back game from yesterday’s four-strikeout effort.
The win tonight felt more important than most. After two tough losses to the Bulls, the Knights take some nice mojo into a rare off day tomorrow (because of an NFL game next door in Bank of America Stadium) and a doubleheader on Saturday.
Interestly, the twinbill on Saturday is a day-night affair, though each game will still be seven innings each.
A Rare Bullpen Win
There are two reasons why this was an unexpected win.
First, the opponent was the Durham Bulls, who are in first place in the division by a wide margin and have owned the Knights this year.
Second, this was a bullpen game for the Knights, and they rarely go well, regardless of the opponent. That’s because the relievers are out there in part to eat innings and they tend to stay in the game to do so, good or bad.
But there were no weak links tonight. Will Carter opened and pitched two innings, followed by an inning from Evan Marshall in his first rehab appearance with the Knights. Kyle Kubat then pitched three effective innings, bridging the gap to Ryan Burr, Anderson Severino and Kyle Crick.
Tonight marked the second appearance for Severino, a 5’10, 190-pound fireballing lefty just up from Birmingham. He labored a bit, giving up two hard-hit balls and needing 21 pitches. His fastball sat 99 though he was largely unable to control his 77-mph curveball. He touched 101 in his debut two nights ago.
Manager Wes Helms was impressed.
“It is a lot coming out of a little body,” Helms said. “Reminds me of Billy Wagner. He’s shorter, stocky, big legs and he just lets it eat, and that’s how Billy Wagner was and that’s what I saw from Severino. We can use him in the bullpen matching up with some of these lefties of Durham, and they have a lot of them.”
Roster Update
The White Sox welcomed back Leury Garcia and Carlos Rodon off the IL today, prompting the demotions of Burr and Danny Mendick to Charlotte.
Right-handed reliever Marshall also came off the 60-day IL today to begin his Charlotte rehab. He had suffered an elbow strain.
Outfielder Micker Adolfo has been out of action this week with a some knee soreness but is expected back this weekend.
Revisiting Wednesday Night’s Game
I asked Helms today about the pivotal sixth inning last night when two critical plays went against the Knights, and the game turned.
On the first play, the Knights trailed 2-0 and the Bulls had the bases loaded and no outs. Pitcher John Parke induced a grounder to third baseman Zach Remillard, who stepped on the bag for the force out and fired the ball to catcher Yasmani Grandal.
But Grandal was blocked by the runner and didn’t realize that Remillard had stepped on the bag. So instead of tagging the runner, Grandal simply stepped on home plate, thinking he could get a force out.
Helms said Remillard and others should have yelled out ‘tag’ to Grandal as soon as Remillard stepped on the bag. “By the time we yelled ‘tag,’ it was too late,” Helms said. “It is one of those things that has to happen right away. I don’t think anyone said ‘tag’ until they realized Yaz didn’t realize it. Then it was too late. It has got to be step on the bag, tag, boom.”
“That just shows you the communication on the field is so huge,” he continued. “Remillard and everyone who was involved in the play has learned from it and know you’ve got to be vocal here, but especially in the big leagues when it is louder.”
Yet another potential out was given up on the very next play when the Bulls pulled off a double steal. The defense was in a shift and Remillard was too far off the bag to recover in time to get the lead runner.
Helms said he re-watched the play and concluded that the defense should have situated Remillard closer to the bag, rather than in the shift, given the aggressiveness of the Bulls and the baserunning skills of the lead runner.
“With a runner like Lowe (Josh), who is such a good base runner, you kind of have to give up one thing,” he said. “Do you give up the stolen base or do you give up them hitting a ground ball right there? I think you maybe shift over a little more toward third and stop the stolen base.”
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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