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MOOSIC — When you hit home runs the way Charlotte does, no lead is ever safe.
The Knights struck five Sunday afternoon to help fuel a comeback that led to a wild, 13-12 victory in 12 innings over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field.
It was a 4-hour, 22-minute marathon that saw the teams combine to issue 22 walks and each use a position player to pitch in the 12th inning.
Charlotte blasted 12 home runs in the series to raise its International League-leading total to 43 and take five of the six games. Coming in, the Knights had dropped 11 of 12.
The RailRiders (12-14) have lost four straight and seven of eight.
“You can never take any lead for granted,” RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan said. “It was kind of a weird day today. The wind was blowing out to right and getting crushed a little bit in left-center. (Jake) Gatewood hit a ball in the ninth that I thought had a chance to win it for us and it went right to a bad part of the field. (Andrew) Velazquez smashed his ball (in the 11th), just didn’t get it in the air enough. You can almost say we didn’t get some of those breaks the way they did. It happens.”
Trailing, 8-3, after six innings, Charlotte got a two-run home run from Dominic Fletcher and a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the top of the seventh to close within 8-6. Tristan Gray’s two-out home run in the eighth cut the deficit to 8-7.
Leading off the ninth, Corey Julks hit a 1-1 pitch off Wilking Rodriguez onto the lawn beyond the right-center field fence for a home run that tied the score at 8. Rodriguez had not allowed a run in his first nine appearances this season.
Later in the inning, with one out, Rodriguez struck out Colson Montgomery, but Montgomery reached on a wild pitch. He stole second and scored on a two-out single by Omar Narvaez to give the Knights a 9-8 lead.
However, the RailRiders answered in the bottom of the ninth. Jose Rojas led off with a walk. After the next two batters were retired, Andrew Velazquez singled and Ismael Munguia and Jorbit Vivas both walked to force home the tying run, 9-9.
In the top of the 10th, Charlotte took a 10-9 lead when speedup runner Kyle Teel scored on a wild pitch with two outs. But T.J. Rumfield’s RBI single to open the bottom of the 10th scored speedup runner Jesus Rodriguez and retied it, 10-10.
Neither team scored in the 11th inning, although the RailRiders had the potential winning run thrown out at the plate by right fielder Dominic Fletcher on a leadoff single by Jake Gatewood.
“Hindsight is the only time you can say a decision is good or bad,” Duncan said. “But the truth is we knew we’d be going into a situation where we’d be throwing a position player. We wanted to be really aggressive for a run. Can’t blame or fault the decision. It is what it is.”
Forced to use position player Edinson Duran in the top of the 12th, Charlotte got RBI singles from Andre Lipcius and Gray and an RBI double by Fletcher to score three times and take a 13-10 lead.
Charlotte also used a position player to pitch in the bottom of the 12th in Fletcher. Vivas greeted him with a single and Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly. Rumfield followed with a RBI double to bring the RailRiders within 13-12. But Fletcher got a groundout and a strikeout to end the game.
Both starting pitchers — Jake Woodward of the RailRiders and Charlotte’s Nick Nastrini — had trouble finding the plate in the top of the first inning.
Woodward walked leadoff batter Greg Jones Jr., who was then caught stealing. Montgomery walked and Elko hit the first pitch out to right-center field for a home run and a 2-0 Charlotte lead.
Teel then walked, but Woodward got an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
In the bottom of the first, Nastrini walked leadoff batter Munguia, who stole second. One out later, Jesus Rodriguez sent a 2-0 pitch down the left-field line 370 feet and into the RailRiders bullpen to tie the game, 2-2. It was Rodriguez’s first Triple-A home run and extended his streak of safely reaching base to 12 games.
Rumfield followed with a walk. With two outs, Nastrini issued three consecutive walks to Rojas, Hernandez and Gatewood to force home a run, 3-2, and end his day. Dalton Roach relieved and uncorked a wild pitch that scored Rojas and made it 4-2.
Woodford settled down after his shaky first. He retired the Knights in order in the top of the second and worked around a one-out error in the third with an inning-ending double play. In the fourth, he loaded the bases with Teel single sandwiched around two walks. But he got strikeout and groundout to squelch the threat.
“That was about as bad as he could start,” Duncan said. “But he grinded through that (first) inning and salvaged the two runs. Sometimes you have to get through that first inning and get into a groove. He did a good job getting through four innings, then hit his pitch count.”
Elko led off the Charlotte sixth with a home run 409 feet to center field that bounced off the top of the fence and over to trim the RailRiders lead to 4-3. It was Elko’s fifth home run in the series and league-leading ninth.
“Elko looks pretty good right now, looks like a good player,” Duncan said. “He seemed to get on top of the fastball pretty well and stay through hanging sliders. He’s in one of those grooves where you really couldn’t make a mistake to him.”
But the RailRiders responded in the bottom of the sixth, sending 10 batters to the plate. Hernandez singled, Gatewood walked and Velazquez laid down a bunt single to load the bases. Munguia was hit by a pitch to force home a run. One out later, Fraiser Ellard relieved Garrett Schoenle and walked Rodriguez and hit Rumfield with a pitch to bring home two more runs. Dominic Smith had a RBI single to cap the four-run rally and give the RailRiders an 8-3 lead.
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The Knights struck five Sunday afternoon to help fuel a comeback that led to a wild, 13-12 victory in 12 innings over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field.
It was a 4-hour, 22-minute marathon that saw the teams combine to issue 22 walks and each use a position player to pitch in the 12th inning.
Charlotte blasted 12 home runs in the series to raise its International League-leading total to 43 and take five of the six games. Coming in, the Knights had dropped 11 of 12.
The RailRiders (12-14) have lost four straight and seven of eight.
“You can never take any lead for granted,” RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan said. “It was kind of a weird day today. The wind was blowing out to right and getting crushed a little bit in left-center. (Jake) Gatewood hit a ball in the ninth that I thought had a chance to win it for us and it went right to a bad part of the field. (Andrew) Velazquez smashed his ball (in the 11th), just didn’t get it in the air enough. You can almost say we didn’t get some of those breaks the way they did. It happens.”
Trailing, 8-3, after six innings, Charlotte got a two-run home run from Dominic Fletcher and a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the top of the seventh to close within 8-6. Tristan Gray’s two-out home run in the eighth cut the deficit to 8-7.
Leading off the ninth, Corey Julks hit a 1-1 pitch off Wilking Rodriguez onto the lawn beyond the right-center field fence for a home run that tied the score at 8. Rodriguez had not allowed a run in his first nine appearances this season.
Later in the inning, with one out, Rodriguez struck out Colson Montgomery, but Montgomery reached on a wild pitch. He stole second and scored on a two-out single by Omar Narvaez to give the Knights a 9-8 lead.
However, the RailRiders answered in the bottom of the ninth. Jose Rojas led off with a walk. After the next two batters were retired, Andrew Velazquez singled and Ismael Munguia and Jorbit Vivas both walked to force home the tying run, 9-9.
In the top of the 10th, Charlotte took a 10-9 lead when speedup runner Kyle Teel scored on a wild pitch with two outs. But T.J. Rumfield’s RBI single to open the bottom of the 10th scored speedup runner Jesus Rodriguez and retied it, 10-10.
Neither team scored in the 11th inning, although the RailRiders had the potential winning run thrown out at the plate by right fielder Dominic Fletcher on a leadoff single by Jake Gatewood.
“Hindsight is the only time you can say a decision is good or bad,” Duncan said. “But the truth is we knew we’d be going into a situation where we’d be throwing a position player. We wanted to be really aggressive for a run. Can’t blame or fault the decision. It is what it is.”
Forced to use position player Edinson Duran in the top of the 12th, Charlotte got RBI singles from Andre Lipcius and Gray and an RBI double by Fletcher to score three times and take a 13-10 lead.
Charlotte also used a position player to pitch in the bottom of the 12th in Fletcher. Vivas greeted him with a single and Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly. Rumfield followed with a RBI double to bring the RailRiders within 13-12. But Fletcher got a groundout and a strikeout to end the game.
Both starting pitchers — Jake Woodward of the RailRiders and Charlotte’s Nick Nastrini — had trouble finding the plate in the top of the first inning.
Woodward walked leadoff batter Greg Jones Jr., who was then caught stealing. Montgomery walked and Elko hit the first pitch out to right-center field for a home run and a 2-0 Charlotte lead.
Teel then walked, but Woodward got an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
In the bottom of the first, Nastrini walked leadoff batter Munguia, who stole second. One out later, Jesus Rodriguez sent a 2-0 pitch down the left-field line 370 feet and into the RailRiders bullpen to tie the game, 2-2. It was Rodriguez’s first Triple-A home run and extended his streak of safely reaching base to 12 games.
Rumfield followed with a walk. With two outs, Nastrini issued three consecutive walks to Rojas, Hernandez and Gatewood to force home a run, 3-2, and end his day. Dalton Roach relieved and uncorked a wild pitch that scored Rojas and made it 4-2.
Woodford settled down after his shaky first. He retired the Knights in order in the top of the second and worked around a one-out error in the third with an inning-ending double play. In the fourth, he loaded the bases with Teel single sandwiched around two walks. But he got strikeout and groundout to squelch the threat.
“That was about as bad as he could start,” Duncan said. “But he grinded through that (first) inning and salvaged the two runs. Sometimes you have to get through that first inning and get into a groove. He did a good job getting through four innings, then hit his pitch count.”
Elko led off the Charlotte sixth with a home run 409 feet to center field that bounced off the top of the fence and over to trim the RailRiders lead to 4-3. It was Elko’s fifth home run in the series and league-leading ninth.
“Elko looks pretty good right now, looks like a good player,” Duncan said. “He seemed to get on top of the fastball pretty well and stay through hanging sliders. He’s in one of those grooves where you really couldn’t make a mistake to him.”
But the RailRiders responded in the bottom of the sixth, sending 10 batters to the plate. Hernandez singled, Gatewood walked and Velazquez laid down a bunt single to load the bases. Munguia was hit by a pitch to force home a run. One out later, Fraiser Ellard relieved Garrett Schoenle and walked Rodriguez and hit Rumfield with a pitch to bring home two more runs. Dominic Smith had a RBI single to cap the four-run rally and give the RailRiders an 8-3 lead.
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