Former Catawba star Sands helps Columbus pound Charlotte Knights

Carlos Moncrief launched two home runs, former Catawba College standout Jerry Sands added another, and the Columbus Clippers beat the Charlotte Knights 10-3 Tuesday night in the opener of their three-game Class AAA International League baseball series.

Charlotte jumped to a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Carlos Sanchez, who was named as league’s batter of the week Monday, came through with a two-run single. The lead didn’t last long, however.

In the bottom of the inning, Tyler Holt’s two-run triple tied the score against Charlotte starter Erik Johnson (3-2). Johnson then allowed another run to score on a Zach Walters sacrifice fly.

The Clippers added to their lead in the fourth with home runs by Sands and Moncrief. In all, Johnson allowed five runs over four innings.

One inning later, Chicago White Sox reliever Javy Guerra, on a rehab assignment, allowed five runs while recording just two outs. Moncrief knocked Guerra out of the game with a three-run home run.

Toru Murata (1-0) held Charlotte to three runs on six hits over six innings. He struck out seven.

Sanchez finished with two hits to boost his batting average to a league-high .411. He also is leading the league in hits with 39 after going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. He has 281 hits in a Knights uniform, which is good for sixth all-time.

The teams will meet again at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday when right-hander Kyle Drabek (0-0, 3.38 ERA) will face Columbus left-hander Michael Roth (1-1, 3.27).

This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Former Catawba star Sands helps Columbus pound Charlotte Knights."