IL1 Charlotte Knights

Knights, Tides Split Doubleheader

Published on July 10, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Charlotte Knights News Release


(NORFOLK, VA) - The Charlotte Knights scored six runs in the first four innings of game two on their way to a 6-5 win over the Norfolk Tides to earn a split of the Friday night twin bill from Harbor Park. The Tides needed extra innings in game one to take a 4-3 victory.

Matt Tuiasosopo got the game-two scoring started with his seventh home run of the season - a two-run blast in the top of the first inning. Tyler Colvin drew a bases-loaded walk from knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa later in the frame to give the Knights a 3-0 advantage.

Leury Garcia and Jason Coats each added RBI-singles over the next two innings to put Charlotte ahead 5-0 before the Tides cut the lead to one with a four-run third inning. Dariel Alvarez started a two-out rally with an RBI-single off of Terance Marin. Michael Almanzar then cut the Knights lead to 5-4 with a three-run homer to left field.

Marin would not factor in the decision after allowing four runs on ten hits over 4.0 innings pitched. The Modesto California native's 1.73 ERA still ranks as the best among Knights pitchers.

Jarrett Casey relieved Marin and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of three-hit ball. The lefty yielded to Maikel Cleto with two outs and two men on base in the sixth inning, and the Dominican native was able to record the final four outs to earn his fourth save of the season. Henry Urrutia did cut the Knights lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning with an RBI-single to right field, but Tyler Colvin threw out the Tides DH at second base for the final out of the game.

Micah Johnson led the Charlotte 13-hit attack in game two with a 3-for-5 night, one of four Knights with a multi-hit effort in the nightcap. Tuiasosopo's two-run homer gave him the only multi-RBI night of the game, and he was one of six different Knights to score a run in game two.

The Knights and Tides played extra innings in game one of the twin bill, with Norfolk coming away with a 4-3 victory in walk-off fashion. Down to their final two outs in the seventh inning, Rey Navarro drove in Michael Almanzar with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 3-3 and send the game into extras.

Two innings later, Dariel Alvarez delivered the last of three singles in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Derrik Gibson and give Norfolk the 4-3 win.

Erik Johnson got the start for the Knights in game one and continued his stellar first half of the season. The University of California-Berkley product tossed four shutout innings of one-hit ball in his first outing since being named the starter of next Wednesday's Triple-A All-Star Game. Johnson tallied three strikeouts to put his IL-leading total at 99 whiffs this season.

Jason Coats led the Knights 8-hit attack in game one with a 3-for-4 performance including all three Charlotte RBIs. The Dallas, Texas native got the scoring started in the top of the third inning with a two-RBI single off of Tides starter Chris Jones.

After Norfolk cut the lead to 2-1, Coats put Charlotte ahead by two with a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning. The Texas Christian University product now has nine homers on the season and a team-leading 51 RBIs.

The Tides scored in the bottom of the sixth on an Alvarez RBI-single before Navarro sent the game into extras with his sacrifice fly.

The split doubleheader keeps the Knights 1.5 games behind the Tides for first place in the International League South Division. The two teams will continue their four-game series with a 7:05 p.m. Saturday night matchup from Harbor Park.

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International League Stories from July 10, 2015


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