Record
4-3 (last week, including a June 30 suspended game)
49-56 (overall)
16-15 (second half)

With the continued matriculation of talent up to Charlotte — the latest addition being Birmingham Barons ace Mason Adams — the Knights continue to crawl closer to .500 on the season, and by September could get there and then some. While it was mostly the non-prospect, MiLB veteran bats who did the most damage for Charlotte this week, Edgar Quero continues to stand out both at the plate and behind it, making his case for a call-up sooner than later.

And while it was the pen leading the way during a fairly rocky week on the mound (35 runs over the six regular games of the series), there were inspiring, standout starts from both Sean Burke and Johan Domínguez.

July 30: Charlotte Knights 6, Norfolk Tides 4 (10 innings) (completion of June 30 game)
We already love Chuckie Robinson, but did you know he could bend time? Here he is, appearing in a game in Charlotte while at the same time playing with the Chicago White Sox in Chicago! Well, OK, there’s no sorcery with our veteran catcher; this game was a completion of a June 30 game suspended a month earlier. And to be honest, Robinson suffered a much sweeter fate than the other player missing from this game, Jared Walsh, who was released on July 16 and thus, technically, prevented from resuming a game in which he’d gone 2-for-4 with a double and a homer. Danny Mendick, mere mortal, took Walsh’s spot at first base to finish things.

You might recall this one was suspended, suspiciously, in Norfolk right after the Tides had tied the game in the ninth inning. In fact, the game was suspended in a downpour only because Oscar Colás threw out the possible winning run at home plate … to the Supernatural Chuckie Robinson for the tag! On that play, the tying run had scored on a single.

Well, justice was served, as Aaron McGarity came in to get the final out in slightly-drier Charlotte one month later, saving Deivi García’s bacon. Colson Montgomery started the top half (yes, Charlotte is on the road, in Charlotte) and the sacks eventually got packed with one out before Supernatural Danny Mendick singled in two runners to put the Knights up, 6-4. In the bottom half, McGarity SHUT NORFOLK DOWN without even letting the Manfred Man get to third base.

GAME MVPs
Aaron McGarity (RHRP) 1 1/3 IP, K, win to go 6-1, 30.4% WPA

RUNNERS-UP
Supernatural First Base Tandem Jared Walsh/Danny Mendick combining for 3-for-5, R, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 55.6% WPA

July 30: Norfolk Tides 6, Charlotte Knights 2 (7 innings) (regularly-scheduled game, shortened by rain)
Things didn’t go well in the nightcap, as rain and lightning dragged the seventh-inning stretch out for an hour before the game was called, in Norfolk’s favor. Jake Eder started and was pummeled for five runs in five innings, while Tim Elko made his Triple-A debut and greeted his latest challenge with a leadoff homer in the fifth inning, his second Knights at-bat.

GAME MVP
Tim Elko (1B) 1-for-3, R, RBI, HR, 8.8% WPA

July 31: Charlotte Knights 6, Norfolk Tides 2
One good turn deserves another, and the Knights slapped Norfolk right back with the same margin of victory on Wednesday, evening this current series at a game apiece. Edgar Quero, with a homer in a 2-for-4 day and, continues to make a legit case to see the South Side sometime this late summer. But this win was a gem for Sean Burke, who like Davis Martin now with the Sox in the majors is pitching himself back from 2023 arm surgery. The once-ascendant righthander threw his longest and best start of his 13 this year; the overall numbers don’t warrant movement north, but the trend lines are solid.

GAME MVP
Sean Burke (RHSP) 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K, HR, WIN (1-4), 19.8% WPA

August 1: Norfolk Tides 18, Charlotte Knights 10
Nick Nastrini has had a truly miserable year both in the majors and Triple-A, somewhat shocking given how well he threw in the Cactus League. But on Thursday night he could not escape the second inning, digging a hole for Charlotte they had no chance of climbing out of. How deep was the hole, you ask? Well, Danny Mendick mopped up by pitching the ninth inning — and was the second- or third-best Knights pitcher in the game. Offensively, Charlotte was pretty weak as well, although Rafael Ortega’s grand slam in the eighth trimmed the Norfolk lead to 18-9 and toned the eventual final score down from embarrassment to blowout.

GAME MVP
Mark Payton (LF) 3-for-5, 2B, R, RBI, 2 K, LF assist to 3B

August 2: Charlotte Knights 7, Norfolk Tides 6
Charlotte, a wild mix of the up-and-coming and barely-hanging-on, bristled up on Friday night to claw back and claim a tight win.

The Knights were down, 5-0, before touching a bat at their Truist Park home, as Jake Eder (5 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, BB, 7 K, WP) got walloped; if there’s something to grow on here, it’s that his final four innings were scoreless, stemming the Tides and keeping his Knights in the ballgame. Bully, then, to the bullpen, who pinned Norfolk to just one run over the four frames that finished the game; Trey McGough earned his first White Sox org win (and third on the season) with two fabulous innings against his recent Tides teammates.

Can’t have a comeback without the bats, though, and Charlotte did just enough to pile up seven scores and outpace Norfolk by one. The big damage came from the tiny bats at the turn of the lineup, as No. 9 Michael Chavis, leadoff man Mark Payton and 2-holer Wilmer Difo all chipped in two safeties in a 6-of-13 collective effort. And Tim Elko (1-for-4, RBI, BB, 2 K, E), who’d cooled since a dinger in his first Triple-A game, made his second RBI at the level count, pushing a single to right to score Payton in the eighth with the eventual game-winner.

GAME MVP
Mark Payton (LF) 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, BB, 28.5% WPA

August 3: Charlotte Knights 12, Norfolk Tides 1
Norfolk drew first blood in the top of the first, on a GIDP — and that was as good as it got. Bryan Ramos stole the lead right back with a two-run shot in the bottom of the first, and Johan Domínguez and a solid bullpen effort needed no more, cruising to the 11-run win. The starter shaved his Charlotte ERA to less than 4.00 (3.92) with five innings of one-run ball and remains the strongest “non-prospect” pitcher throwing in the organization. Supporting JD were the on-fire Mark Payton (4-for-5, three runs) and Edgar Quero (3-for-4, R, 3 RBI, 2B, BB).

5 K’s over 5 strong innings for Johan Domínguez 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xECSnzGf6c

— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) August 3, 2024

GAME MVP
Bryan Ramos (3B) 1-for-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 BB, 17.3% WPA

August 4: Norfolk Tides 4, Charlotte Knights 2
The Knights saved their weakest offensive effort in the series for the finale, notching just two runs (Tim Elko and Edgar Quero homers) and four hits overall in a loss that split the series with the Tides. With Ky Bush called up to the majors for Monday’s start in Oakland, you can hardly blame spot-starter Cory Abbott for a weak and wild effort over eight outs. And the five relievers backing him rallied to keep Norfolk’s bats somewhat under control. Gus Varland, claimed off of Dodgers waivers late last week, made his Knights debut a decent one, with a run and two hits in 1 2/3 innings, with three Ks.

GAME MVP
Matt Foster (RHRP) scoreless and hitless IP, ERA down to 1.13 in Charlotte, next reliever up when the call comes

Seven-Day Hitting

Seven-Day Pitching

Please support our White Sox writing and podcasts by clicking this Patreon link.

Mark Payton photo by Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights