Charlotte Knights split Saturday pair with Columbus Clippers
The Charlotte Knights split two games – the first a win in a suspended game that started Friday – with the Columbus Clippers on Saturday.
Game 2: Bradley Zimmer homered and doubled, scoring two runs as Columbus defeated the Charlotte Knights 8-1.
Chris Colabello homered and singled with three RBIs for Columbus.
Columbus took the lead in the first when Richie Shaffer, who went to high school at Providence, hit a two-run home run and Colabello hit a three-run home run.
The Clippers later added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to punctuate the blowout.
Jeff Johnson (1-0) got the win with two innings of scoreless relief while Charlotte starter Chris Volstad (0-1) took the loss in the International League game.
For the Knights, Jose Vinicio doubled and singled twice, also stealing a base.
Game 1: Willy Garcia, Ryan Raburn, and Nicky Delmonico all homered to help the Knights beat Columbus by a score of 6-3. Saturday's first of two games started out with the Knights already ahead by a score of 2-0 with one out in the first inning after the team got off to a quick start on Friday.
The Knights pushed their first two runs across in the top of the first inning on a two-run home run by Garcia on Friday. Minutes later, rain and lightning delayed and the forced the suspension.
Tied by a score of 3-3 in the sixth, Raburn put the Knights ahead with a solo home run off LHP Ryan Merritt (2-2, 4.82), who was saddled with the loss.
Delmonico extended his hitting streak to nine games with a two-run home run off Merritt. Charlotte then took a 6-3 lead at that point and never looked back.
Charlotte LHP David Holmberg made his first start of the season and allowed three runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings. RHP Brad Goldberg (1-1, 1.80), an Ohio native, earned the win after 1 1/3 scoreless innings. RHP Zack Burdi recorded the final three outs in the ninth to notch his third save of the season.
This story was originally published April 29, 2017 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Charlotte Knights split Saturday pair with Columbus Clippers."