CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Knights got a strong effort from right-handed starting pitcher Erik Johnson and beat the Gwinnett Braves by a 4-2 score on Thursday night to split the four-game series at BB&T Ballpark.
The loss, combined with a 6-2 win for the Columbus Clippers over the Louisville Bats, puts Gwinnett (63-55) three games in back of the Clippers in the International League Wild Card standings. The G-Braves and Clippers will begin a key four-game series on Friday night at Huntington Park in Columbus.
The Knights (63-57) plated their first run of the game in the bottom of the third off of Gwinnett right-handed starter, Victor Mateo. With two outs and the bases empty, Ethan Wilson doubled to left and scored from second on a double to right field by Chicago White Sox’ utilityman Emilio Bonifacio, who was playing for the Knights on a Major League rehab assignment, for a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third, Jason Coats drew a leadoff walk from Mateo and moved to third when Dayan Viciedo doubled to right. Rob Brantly then cracked a single to left, scoring both Coats and Viciedo for a 3-0 advantage.
Brantly’s bat came into play again in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Mateo issued back-to-back walks to Coats and Matt Davidson, and Brantley delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to center field to give the Knights a 4-0 lead.
Failing to get any offense off of Johnson, the G-Braves finally broke through in the top of the seventh off of the Charlotte bullpen. With righty J.B. Wendelken on the mound, Jordan Lennerton stroked a one-out single to left, and Barrett Kleinknecht doubled in the gap in left-center field to put men on second and third. Jose Yepez then cleared the bases with a two-run double down the third-base line. The hit cut the Charlotte lead to 4-2, but that would be as close as Gwinnett would get.
Mateo (L, 1-1) pitched 6.0 innings in his third Gwinnett start. He allowed seven hits, four earned runs and two walks with five strikeouts. The G-Braves’ bullpen again was solid, as right-hander Vin Mazzaro went 1.0 inning with one hit and one strikeout, and right-hander David Carpenter worked a perfect eighth inning with one strikeout.
Johnson (W, 9-8) pitched 6.0 shutout innings with four hits, one walk and eight strikeouts. Wendelken went 1.0 inning with three hits and two earned runs. Right-hander Blake Smith (H, 4) struck out the side in the eighth and righty Junior Guerra (S, 4) struck out two in a hitless ninth.
For Gwinnett, Mallex Smith was 2-for-4 with a double and two stolen bases. Yepez went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Cedric Hunter had a 1-for-4 night to run his hitting streak to eight games. Christian Bethancourt was also 1-for-4 and increased his hitting streak to seven, but he saw his six-game multi-hit streak come to an end.
Brantly was the offensive leader for Charlotte with a 2-for-3 game with three RBIs. Wilson was also 2-for-3 with a double.
The G-Braves begin their four-game series against the Clippers at 5:35 p.m. on Friday at Huntington Park with the resumption of a suspended game from May 31 at Coolray Field. Gwinnett will be batting in the bottom of the first with no score and will be the designated home team. Right-hander Sugar Ray Marimon (3-4, 3.82 ERA) will take the mound for Gwinnett, and fellow righty Shaun Marcum (7-3, 2.95 ERA) will do the same for the Clippers. The first game will be nine innings; the second game is scheduled for seven. Tony Schiavone has the call beginning at 5:05 p.m. on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com.
Wednesday
January 22nd, 2025
5:59PM
