Presto: Knights Walk off with 5-4 Win on Friday
July 17, 2015 - International League (IL1)
Charlotte Knights News Release
(UPTOWN CHARLOTTE, NC) - Down by one run heading to the bottom of the ninth inning, the Charlotte Knights worked their magic. The walk-off magicians did so in front of the 23rd sell-out crowd of the 2015 regular season as well.
Leury Garcia ripped a single up the middle in the bottom of the ninth inning and Kevan Smith scored the game-winning run as the Knights walked-off with a thrilling 5-4 win over the Norfolk Tides on Friday in game two of the four-game series from BB&T Ballpark in front of 10,295 fans. With the win, the Knights regained the top spot in the IL South Division, a half-game ahead of the Tides.
Friday's game was an instant classic in BB&T Ballpark's early history. The Knights, who ultimately improved to 29-17 at home this season, jumped out to a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Matt Tuiasosopo solo home run in the second inning -- the 100th of his minor league career. Tuiasosopo's eighth home run of the season was one of two long balls hit by the Knights on the evening. Charlotte's Jason Coats also homered in the game, which broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning. The home run was his 10th of the year with the Knights.
Charlotte starter Scott Carroll allowed just one run over five innings and exited the game with a 2-1 lead. Manager Joel Skinner then handed the ball to reliever Maikel Cleto to begin the sixth inning, but he had his troubles. Appearing in his 29th game of the season, Cleto allowed a leadoff home run to Rey Navarro, which tied the game at 2-2. Cleto settled down and allowed just one more hit over his two innings of work.
In the bottom of the seventh inning with the game still knotted at 2-2, outfielder Trayce Thompson roped his second double of the game. Three batters later, Tyler Colvin lined a shallow fly ball to center field, which scored the hustling Thompson from third base. Colvin's sacrifice fly gave the Knights a 3-2 lead and a chance for the team's first win of the second half.
Charlotte RHP Junior Guerra (2-3, 3.07) came on to begin the eighth inning in replace of Cleto, but he also had his troubles. The 30-year-old reliever, who earned his first promotion to the majors last month, allowed a one-out solo home run to Christian Walker, which tied the game at 3-3.
Norfolk continued to mount their comeback with help from 2015 Triple-A Baseball Home Run Derby winner Dariel Alvarez. With just one out in the inning, Alvarez doubled and Steve Clevenger followed with an RBI single to give the Tides a 4-3 lead at that point. Still, the magicians never quit.
Trailing the Tides 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Norfolk reliever Pedro Beato came on to close the door for the Tides, but the Knights rallied back.
Chris Marrero ignited the offense in the final frame with a one-out single. With the tying run now on first base, Marrero came out of the game in favor of pinch-runner Ethan Wilson, who represented the game-tying run in his BB&T Ballpark debut. Catcher Kevan Smith followed with a walk to put the go-ahead run on base. Advantage magicians.
Beato then settled down and recorded his second strikeout of the game, but the Knights had a few more tricks up their sleeve. Down to their final out of the night, speedster Micah Johnson singled home Wilson to tie the game at 4-4. It was Garcia's turn to play the hero. Presto!
On a 1-0 count from Beato, Garcia came through with Charlotte's seventh walk-off win of the season, which provided a game-winning spark just before post-game fireworks in Uptown Charlotte. With the win, the Knights improved to 10-8 on the season against the Tides. Guerra earned his second win of the season while Beato (4-4, 2.02) was saddled with the loss.
Norfolk starter Kevin Gausman allowed two runs on six hits over six innings and did not factor in the decision. The 2012 first-round pick of the Orioles struck-out eight batters on the evening.
The two teams will continue their series on Saturday with a 7:05 p.m. game from BB&T Ballpark. RHP Hector Noesi (0-0, 0.00) will make his first start of the season with Charlotte, while the Tides will hand the ball to RHP Tyler Wilson (3-5, 3.05). Gates open at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and the Knights will welcome the Hickory Tavern KnightinGals to the ballpark and also celebrate "Christmas in July".
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