The Knights played some of their best — and most exciting — baseball of the season this past week, standing toe to toe with the league’s runaway best team, the Durham Bulls.
With the Sept. 1 call-up looming, the ever-changing roster will be in flux again soon. But the lineup was stacked this week, and got contributions from top to bottom. And the pitching staff held its own against a tough Bulls’ team, led by one of the best outings of the season from Jimmy Lambert.
The highlight of the week was the second game of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday, when the Knights trailed 4-0 heading into the bottom of the final frame, and rallied for a 5-4 win on Danny Mendick’s three-run, walk-off home run. That win marked the team’s fourth game-winning final at bat in the two-week homestand.
A win on Sunday would have given the team a 3-3 record against the Bulls for the weeklong series. And it looked like that was going to happen when Ryan Burr took the ball in the top of the ninth with a 3-2 lead.
But that’s when things got a bit controversial. Burr appeared to have lead-off hitter Josh Lowe struck out, but got squeezed on consecutive pitches by home plate umpire Ryan Wills, resulting in a walk. Lowe went to second on a passed ball by Zack Collins and took third when Vidal Brujan beat out a bunt.
Taylor Walls then flied out to center fielder Mikie Mahtook, who fired an errant throw home instead of hitting the cut-off man to hold Brujan at second. But Dalton Kelly made it a moot point with his second homer of the game and a 5-3 Bulls’ lead.
But the resilient Knights were not done yet. Jake Burger opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, and Gavin Sheets appeared to draw a walk on a 3-1 count on a pitch that was further outside than the two pitches on which Burr got squeezed. But Wills called it a strike, ultimately resulting in a Sheets strikeout and ejection. Manager Wes Helms also was tossed. The Bulls hung on for the 5-3 win.
The Week’s Top Hitters
There were many.
Blake Rutherford had his best game of the season on Thursday, with two home runs and a double, all of which were barreled up nicely. He added another home run on Sunday, finishing the week with a team-high in hits (seven) and RBI (six). But even his outs were solid at bats and he had just two strikeouts on the week.
Burger and Sheets were their usual formidable selves this week. Burger had three home runs in the first two games of the week, giving him four in his last three games (going back to last Sunday). He finished the Durham series with three round trippers and three singles. Sheets filled up the stat sheet with a bit of everything: two doubles, a home run, four walks and two singles.
Romy Gonzalez’ batting average cooled off this week after a scorching start to his Triple-A career, with just four hits in 19 at bats. But he looked good all week at the plate and continues to flash the tools of a polished hitter.
Mikie Mahtook came into the week as one of if not the hottest bat on the team, and he punished the ball again this week, though he did not add to his team-leading 21 home runs.
On the rehab front, Billy Hamilton was with the team all week, and Yasmani Grandal was in the lineup for three games before returning to Chicago. Hamilton will return to the White Sox on Monday. And Danny Mendick rejoined the Knights just in time for Saturday’s doubleheader. Micker Adolfo was also back in the lineup in the second game of the twin bill after time off for a minor injury, and he contributed a huge single in the epic walk-off comeback win.
With a sudden glut of middle infielders, there were limited opportunities for Ti’Quan Forbes, Marco Hernandez, Zach Remillard and Matt Reynolds. Likewise, with Grandal in the lineup, there were few at bats for Nate Nolan, though he did have two doubles in a spot start, and Yermin Mercedes, who was away for four days on the White Sox taxi squad this week, along with Matt Foster, on a road trip to Toronto (because of Canada’s MLB Covid rules).
On The Bump
In his start on Saturday, Lambert pitched five innings of two-hit ball. As he has had most of the season, Lambert had excellent control of his slider. But his fastball was a few ticks higher than much of the season, probably the result of a dramatically lower workload in August.
The White Sox want to be cautious with Lambert as he returns from Tommy John surgery. But they also want to have him fresh for September and a possible spot start in Chicago, and the club seems to have threaded the needle just right.
Alex McRae pitched the other half of the doubleheader and he turned in a nice effort as well. The team’s two other starters, Kade McClure and John Parke, both just up from Birmingham in the past few weeks, had better efforts than their stat lines suggest in the two early-week losses. McClure also got the ball for a second start on Sunday, and battled for 3.2 innings, surrendering four hits and two walks but just one run.
After two rough games on Tuesday and Wednesday, the bullpen atoned for itself nicely the rest of the week, led by Jace Fry, Anderson Severino, Ryan Burr, Evan Marshall, Kyle Crick and Kyle Kubat. Burr was the loser on Sunday but deserved a better fate.
Up Next
The team hits the road for two weeks, to Norfolk to battle the Orioles’ affiliate, and to Jacksonville, against the Marlins’ Triple-A squad.
Photo credit: Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights
Want to know right away when we publish a new article? Type your email address in the box on the right-side bar (or at the bottom on a mobile device) and click “create subscription.” Our list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time. Also, consider supporting FutureSox on Patreon! You can get early access to special articles and Patreon-only posts, in addition to more benefits.
Shop our exclusive merchandise! Show your support with FutureSox apparel.