Neftali Soto, Matt Davidson homer Charlotte Knights to win in 9th

The Charlotte Knights used back-to-back home runs by Neftali Soto and Matt Davidson to start the ninth inning to earn an 8-7 Class AAA International League baseball win Thursday night against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the opener of a four-game series in front of 9,089 at BB&T BallPark.

Soto stepped to the plate to lead off the ninth against left-hander Tyler Webb (0-2) and sent a 2-1 fastball rocketing into the bleachers to tie the score at 7.

Two pitches later, Davidson stayed back on a curveball and launched his team-leading fifth home run of the season and subsequently was mobbed at the plate by his teammates.

Davidson’s long ball came to rest just a few rows back of Soto’s.

After falling behind 6-0 in Kyle Drabek’s home debut, the Knights (13-7) rallied for three runs in the fourth inning, two in the fifth, and then tied the score at 6 in the seventh on a double off the bat of Dan Black that brought home Trayce Thompson, who had tripled.

The RailRiders (10-12) pushed home the go-ahead run on a single in the ninth inning off Eric Surkamp (2-0). On the play, Cole Figueroa used a nice slide to avoid the Kevan Smith tag at the plate.

The win was the Knights’ second in four games.

Quote

“We’re just pretty explosive. Everyone’s contributing. It’s not like it’s just one part of the lineup that’s getting all the runs. Everyone in this lineup has experience and is a good hitter, so we’re pretty lethal top to bottom.” – third baseman Matt Davidson on how the Knights have been able to stay in almost every game this season.

Worth mentioning

With two more hits, Charlotte designated hitter Dan Black has reached base in 19 straight games, dating to last season. He has hit in 11 straight contests. He entered Thursday leading the league in on-base percentage (.471) and slugging percentage (.714). … White Sox reliever Javy Guerra pitched a scoreless seventh with one walk and one strikeout in his second rehab appearance. … With his 2-for-4 performance, Carlos Sanchez (268) is just one hit shy of 10th place on the Knights’ hit list (Lou Lucca has 269). Despite playing with the White Sox for the first week of the season, Sanchez’s 26 hits are tied for the third-most in the IL. … Friday’s game will be the first of the season in which pitchers (with a called ball) and batters (with a called strike) will be penalized for pitch timer violations.

What’s next?

The Knights will play the RailRiders at 7:05 p.m. Friday. Right-hander Shawn Haviland (0-1, 3.45 ERA) will take the mound for the Knights against left-hander Matt Tracy (0-0, 6.00).

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Neftali Soto, Matt Davidson homer Charlotte Knights to win in 9th."