Knights’ bats go cold in loss to Mud Hens
The Charlotte Knights fell 6-2 to the Toledo Mud Hens in front of 9,047 at BB&T Ballpark on Tuesday night to even their three-game series at one-game apiece.
Mud Hens’ starter Tim Melville (1-2) held the Knights offense scoreless on one hit over six innings to record his first-career Class AAA win. The right-hander walked four and struck out five.
The Knights, who went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, finished the game with a season-low four hits.
Veteran right-hander Brad Penny returned from the disabled list to make his third start of the season for the Knights. He allowed an unearned and four hits over four innings of work.
Penny – who induced seven ground-ball outs Tuesday – was placed on the DL on April 15 with an undisclosed injury.
Toledo, which carried a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning, broke the game open against Knights’ reliever Arcenio Leon. The Mud Hens scored three runs over his 1 2/3 innings of work to take a 6-0 edge into the bottom of the seventh.
Dan Black, who tied Monday’s game with a ninth-inning home run, continued to swing a hot bat when he knocked in Trayce Thompson from first base with a double to right with no outs in the seventh off Mud Hens’ reliever Rafael Dolis.
Black took third on a Kevan Smith ground out and, following a Jared Mitchell walk, scored on a Leury Garcia single.
After failing to score in the eighth, the Knights brought the tying run to the on-deck circle in the bottom of the ninth, but came up short in their third comeback attempt in as many games.
Quote
“(Melville) was just mixing his pitches well and he had us off balance and found a way to get the ball passed us at the plate. We’ll come back out here tomorrow and get some hits.” – Knights first baseman Dan Black.
Worth mentioning
White Sox right-hander Javy Guerra (with Knights on a MLB rehab assignment) allowed two runs on three hits in an inning of relief. He threw 24 pitches (14 for strikes) and struck out one. ... With his 2-for-3 performance on Tuesday night, Charlotte first baseman Dan Black has now reached base in 17-straight games (dating back to last season). He is now batting a team-leading .368 on the season. ... Maikel Cleto turned in a scoreless 2 1/3 innings of relief and has now not allowed a run in his last 19 2/3 innings of work dating back to last season. … The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Knights. Their season-long winning streak is four games (April 15-18). … Three members of the AHL Charlotte Checkers – John Muse, Zach Boychuk and Dennis Robertson – took batting practice at BB&T Ballpark prior to Tuesday’s game.
What’s next?
The Knights and Mud Hens play the final game of their three-game series at BB&T Ballpark on Wednesday at 11:05 a.m. Erik Johnson (2-1, 0.75) looks to continue his stellar start this season for the Knights across from Thad Weber (2-1, 5.63).
This story was originally published April 28, 2015 at 10:49 PM with the headline "Knights’ bats go cold in loss to Mud Hens."