Johnson delivers victory for Charlotte Knights
Micah Johnson hit the first pitch the Syracuse Chiefs threw Saturday over the fence for a home run and the last one down the left-field line for a walk-off double in the ninth inning to give the Charlotte Knights a 2-1 win.
Johnson’s performance overshadowed an excellent night of work from Knightspitchers Kyle Drabek and Eric Surkamp, who combined to two-hit the Chiefs (16-20).
Johnson stepped to the plate in the first inning waiting on a fastball, got one and sent his first home run of the season over the left-field wall, becoming the first Knights player to accomplish such a feet since Jared Mitchell on Aug. 9, 2014.
Charlotte (20-15) led 1-0 until the sixth inning when the Chiefs managed their first hit of the night off Drabek, a sharp one-out single by Emmanel Burriss through the hole between first and second base.
Tony Gwynn Jr. followed with a bloop double to put runners at second and third with one out, and Darin Mastroianni brought home Syracuse’s lone run with a fielder's choice to tie the score at 1-1.
The sixth was the last inning for Drabek (6IP, 1R, 2H, 2BB, 2K; 80 pitches, 47 strikes). Surkamp then came on in relief and held the Chiefs hitless over the next three innings to set the table for Johnson’s heroics.
Kevan Smith led off the ninth with a walk, was sacrificed to second, and then scored on Johnson’s two-strike double off left-hander Rich Hill. Johnson had gone 2-for-7 with three RBIs, two walks and two stolen bases since rejoining the Knights on Friday.
Quote
“Rich Hill is too hard to hit man. That was just luck. I’ve seen him before last year. He threw me a curveball tonight that I pretty much thought was going to hit me in the face, so (on the next pitch) I just tickled the ball down the line.” – Knights’ second baseman Micah Johnson.
Worth mentioning
On Johnson’s winning double, he and Knights catcher Kevan Smith came up lame. Johnson rolled his ankle on second base as he watched Smith slide safely into home plate. Smith also rolled his ankle on the play. Johnson appeared to be fine after the game, but Smith is likely day-to-day. … The walk-off win was the Knight’s fourth this season, matching their total from 2014. … In his last three starts, Drabek has gone 0-1 despite allowing just two runs on five hits over 17 innings. In those starts, Drabek – who was optioned to the Knights by the Chicago White Sox on April 24 – has walked just four and struck out 15. … According to reports, former Knights outfielder Jared Mitchell, who was released by the White Sox last week, signed a deal with the Los Angeles Angels and will be assigned to their Class AA Arkansas. Mitchell was a former first-round pick by the White Sox. He was just 2-for-40 with Charlotte at the time of his release. ... The Knights activated right-hander Matt Lindstrom from the disabled list. ... In a collision of former Knights, Carlos Sanchez went 1-for-4 in his return to the White Sox lineup on Friday in Oakland, Calif., a game that was started by Carlos Rodon and and featured a home run by Josh Phegley. ... The sellout crowd of 10,379 was the Knights' 11th in 21 openings at BB&T BallPark this season.
What's next?
The Knights will play the final game of their three-game home series with the Chiefs on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. RHP Chris Beck (2-1, 3.90) will take the mound for the Knights across from RHP Bruce Billings (1-2, 3.82).
This story was originally published May 16, 2015 at 11:01 PM with the headline "Johnson delivers victory for Charlotte Knights."