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This Week in Charlotte Knights Baseball: August 29-September 5, 2024

Record
4-1 (August 29-September 5)
62-69 (overall, eighth place of 10)
29-28 (second half, fifth place of 10)

Charlotte fought Nashville, Memphis and the rain to come away with a very successful week, marked by continued mashing on offense and almost impeccable pitching. In the process, the team finally got its head above water for the second half and maybe, just maybe, could reach .500 for the full season. Aaron McGarity sang, Devi García continued as a killer mini-starter, and Carlos Pérez remained a valuable backstop stopgap.

August 29: Nashville Sounds 5, Charlotte Knights 1
My Not too much to stand up and be proud of in this one. If you use a bat and your name isn’t Wilmer Difo (2-for-2, R, 2B, BB, 19.2% WPA), you slept through the game on offense. And Sean Burke (4 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, loss to drop to 1-6) again struggled with traffic and runs, only this time without the sexy K numbers that somehow ease the indigestion.

Normally, for his bat and for the sweet D, Difo would be our MVP.

However, this happened, and if you think it doesn’t earn an MVP, you got another thing coming:

GAME MVP
Aaron McGarity (Singer/RHRP) 1/3 IP, one pitch pop-out to end ninth, oh and SANG THE NATIONAL ANTHEM BEFORE THE GAME

August 30: Scheduled doubleheader; both games rained out

August 31: Charlotte Knights 5, Nashville Sounds 3 (7 innings) (completion of Friday’s game)
The back end of the pen made things exciting, catching longball fever, but the Knights dried out long enough in Saturday’s opener to chisel another win over the Sounds. Mason Adams got the lite start (three innings) but was terrific; plus heck, three innings in a seven-frame contest qualify as at least four in the regular game, right? The Charlotte offense had just six hits, three of them singles, but also took the many, many donations Nashville offered in the game (seven walks).

GAME MVP
Mason Adams (RHSP) 3 IP, 3 H, K17.8% WPA

August 31: Nashville Sounds 8, Charlotte Knights 7 (8 innings) (Saturday’s regular game)
This back-and-forth affair ended in sadness, late, for the Knights. After the Sounds strummed Charlotte for two in the top of the seventh, it was a two-out rally in last ups fueled by a single from the near-perfect Carlos Pérez and a two-run homer by Danny Mendick (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, 47.7% WPA) on an 0-2 count that sent the game to extras.

However, Nashville struck for two in the top of the eighth while Charlotte could only muster one; Bryan Ramos (2-for-5, RBI, K) had a solid game, but struck out to end it with runners on first and second.

GAME MVP
Carlos Pérez (C) 2-for-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR, BB, 25.1% WPA

September 1: Nashville Sounds at Charlotte Knights rained out and won’t be made up

September 3: Charlotte Knights 4, Norfolk Tides 2
The Yoán Moncada Redemption Game? Sure. Probably as close as we’ll ever see again with the onetime top prospect in the game. And credit due, because no one else in the lineup came close to the veteran’s production. The good news is that on the flip side, the bullpen was LIGHTS OUT with a five-inning, five-arm effort that added up to two hits, two walks, six Ks and a whole mess of holds — including an eighth for the dulcet tones of Aaron McGarity (IP, 2 K, 8-of-11 strikes).

GAME MVP
Yoán Moncada (DH) 3-for-5, R, RBI, HR, 9.4% WPA

September 4: Charlotte Knights 4, Norfolk Tides 3
Seriously, possibly, the game of the year for Charlotte. Any massively good performances? Eh, maybe not. But this is the sort of bullpen game the Knights have been faced with countless times over the past few seasons, with a margin for error that is so thin. Think about it, five, six, maybe more arms in a game, and any one of them liable to blow the entire result up. That sort of thing has happened too often, but for a second straight game behind emergency opener Deivi García, Charlotte has thrived. Tonight it was five arms backing García, and while I almost wrote too soon (Travis Lakins Sr. “earned” his first Knights save with an IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K), the entire group stemmed the Tides with 19 strikeouts total. WOW.

GAME MVP
Deivi García (RHRP as opener) 3 IP, 2 H, 5 K, 38-of-50 strikes, 14.7% WPA

September 5: Charlotte Knights 5, Norfolk Tides 3
By and large (OK, defense aside), what a way to end this run of games, with brilliant starting work by Sean Burke (5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 9 K, HR and the win to improve to 2-6), sweet relief and a 13-hit attack including five batters with two-hit games.

GAME MVP
Colson Montgomery (SS) 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, K, 19.4% WPA

7-Day Hitting

7-Day Pitching

 

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Bryan Ramos photo by Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights

Brett Ballantini

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