CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Charlotte Knights rode an 11-hit attack to beat the Gwinnett Braves by a 7-5 score Friday night in the opening game of the three-game series at BB&T Ballpark.
The G-Braves (3-6) took the early lead and then made a late push to get back in the game, but ended up losing their fourth in a row in the young International League season.
In the top of the second, facing Knights’ starting pitcher Scott Carroll, the G-Braves struck first. Pedro Ciriaco led off with a single to center and moved to second on an error by Charlotte shortstop Leury Garcia on a ball hit by Adonis Garcia. Ciriaco and Garcia each moved up one base on a groundout to the mound by Elmer Reyes. A wild pitch by Carroll scored Ciriaco from third for a 1-0 Gwinnett lead. Garcia, who moved to third on the wild pitch, would later score on a fielders’ choice off the bat of Braeden Schlehuber for a 2-0 advantage.
However, Gwinnett starter Matt Wisler ran into trouble in the bottom of the second. With one out, he gave up a solo homer to Trayce Thompson, cutting the lead to 2-1. Kevan Smith and Garcia followed with back-to-back singles and Tyler Saladino walked to load the bases. Carlos Sanchez then singled to center scoring both Smith and Garcia to give the Knights a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Charlotte (6-3) added to the lead as Neftali Soto greeted Wisler with a single and moved to second on a single by Matt Davidson. Knights’ right fielder Engel Beltre doubled off the wall in left, scoring Soto to raise the lead to 4-2. With two outs, Jared Mitchell hit a Wisler pitch deep to right, but G-Braves’ right fielder Joe Benson dropped the ball, allowing Davidson and Beltre to score for a 6-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth, Charlotte extended the lead to 7-2 by scoring an unearned run off of Gwinnett reliever John Cornely.
The G-Braves closed the gap in the top of the eighth as Cedric Hunter drilled a single to left off of Charlotte reliever Arcenio Leon. Ciriaco then singled to center to put two on with two outs. Garcia ended Gwinnett’s eight-game homer drought by lifting a Leon pitch deep over the left field wall. The three-run shot, Garcia’s first as a G-Brave, cut the deficit to 7-5. However, that is as close as Gwinnett would get.
Wisler (L, 0-1) went 4.2 innings, gave up 10 hits, six runs (four earned), walked one and struck out five. Cornely worked 1.1 innings with one hit, one unearned run and one strikeout. Michael Kohn worked 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Carroll (W, 1-1) pitched 5.0 innings with two hits, two runs (one earned), two walks and four strikeouts. Maikel Cleto went 2.0 innings with two strikeouts. Leon worked 1.0 inning, gave up three hits, three earned runs and struck out two. Jairo Asencio (S, 4) pitched a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts for his fourth save in four appearances in 2015.
Garcia led the G-Braves at the plate, going 1-for-3 with the homer, two runs scored and three RBIs. Ciriaco was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
For Charlotte, Sanchez was 3-for 5 with a run scored and two RBIs. Smith was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Gwinnett will play game two of the three-game series at Charlotte Saturday night. Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang (0-0, 3.38 ERA) will make his second start of the season for the G-Braves. The Knights will start right-hander Erik Johnson (1-0, 0.00 ERA). Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com.
Gwinnett’s next home game is April 27 at 6:35 p.m. against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. To purchase tickets, call the Coolray Field Ticket Office at 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.
