Romy Gonzalez stands out in Knights loss

The Knights appear to be coming into the end of the season on fumes. Whether it is disinterest, fatigue or loss of focus, the team isn’t firing on all cylinders in these final few weeks.  Tonight, they fell to the Norfolk Tides, 7-0, in Charlotte.

It was a familiar pattern: the Knights fell behind early, 3-0 after three innings as Cade McClure was pulled with no outs in the third in one of his least effective outings on the year.

Tanner Banks kept the team within striking distance, tossing three innings of one-hit shutout ball.  But the Knights couldn’t come up with the big hit with runners on base — they were 1-12 with runners in scoring position — and managed only a Blake Rutherford double and four singles.

Two of the singles were by Romy Gonzalez, who started his first game for the Knights after being demoted from Chicago.

The game got out of hand when reliever Will Carter walked the first two batters in the top of the eighth and then threw wildly to first on a bunt, allowing both runners to score.

Catching Up With Romy Gonzalez

In a pre-game chat, Gonzalez talked about the excitement of his surprise Sept. 1 call-up.  “I thought I was going to (be able to control my emotions),” he said, “but my first 10 at bats, I was very nervous, to say the least.  As I played more and more, I definitely felt like I settled in.”

“Everyone there has elite stuff,” he added.  “Its fun to see where you stack up.”

Gonzalez said he wasn’t expecting the call-up, but added that manager Wes Helms pulled him aside and reminded him that Charlotte wasn’t the final objective.  “Wes told me, hey, don’t let this be your last stop,” Gonzalez said.  “You’re right there knocking on the door.  Anything can happen.  Sure enough, three days later, he told me, you’re going up.”

There was also a game with the White Sox when Gonzalez was called on to pitch in a mop-up situation when reliever and former Knight Mike Wright was ejected for throwing at a batter.

“That was fun,” he laughed.  “When they tossed Mike out, I was looking around and I thought, I think it is going to be me.  I’m looking at the bullpen and nobody was getting up and I’m like, yep, it is me, and sure enough (White Sox pitching coach Ethan) Katz came out and said, you’re pitching.”

Photo credit: Caleb Probst/FutureSox

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