As disheartening as the opening weekend has been for the White Sox, Charlotte has chiseled out three straight wins, sweeping the customarily-daunting Tampa Bay Rays Triple-A affiliate, the Durham Bulls. And unlike the debauched Opening Night that saw 19 Knights cross the plate, the wins on Saturday and Sunday were nail-biters.
Charlotte Knights 2, Durham Bulls 1 (11)
Just as on Friday night, Durham did lead in Saturday’s game, 1-0, in the third inning. And this time around it took Charlotte an extra inning to tie things up, as Sam Antonacci homered in the fourth to knot the game up, 1-1. And that was all the scoring either team could muster in regulation.
As you might imagine, this one was a pitcher’s duel, with just those two runs and seven total hits through 10 1/2 innings. On the Charlotte side, Tanner McDougal started, going four innings with just two hits and an earned run aided by four walks. However, McDougal offset some of that wildness with eight strikeouts, and overall his first start in Triple-A was a dandy:
Chase Plymell came on for two hitless innings, walking one and striking out four. Next up was McDougal’s Birmingham doppelganger from 2025, Tyler Schweitzer, who threw two scoreless, giving up Durham’s other two hits. Zach Franklin bridged regulation and extras by throwing two scoreless innings, finally handing the ball over to Lucas Sims, who held Durham down for a frame and snagged the win.
After nine failures with RISP combined between the two clubs in extras, Jacob Gonzalez led off the Charlotte 11th with a sac bunt that pushed Manfred Man Dustin Harris to third. After an intentional walk and defensive indifference put Antonacci on second base, William Bergolla Jr. got a four-seamer in his kitchen and took it right back up the middle for the game-winner and a 2-0 record on the season.
Charlotte Knights 4, Durham Bulls 3
Another comeback win for the Knights finished off the series with a sweep. This time, Durham jumped out early, 2-0, but Charlotte rallied for single digits in the second, third and fourth (including solo shots from first baseman Jacob Gonzalez in the second and fourth) to take back the lead.
But after Tyson Miller surrendered the lead in the seventh, it came down to more heroics for the hometown heroes.
Well, OK, it came down to bat discipline, because the winning run came on a sayonara … walk. With William Bergolla Jr. on first, Sam Antonacci on second and Jarred Kelenic on third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Bulls reliever Joe Rock got Oliver Dunn down, 0-2, with one strike preventing a second straight extra-inning affair. But having gotten Dunn to chase a slider down and away for strike two, Rock went back to the well four times with fastballs down and away. None were close, and the Knights were handed a W. (The wild win was not a shocker, as the Knights prevailed in the ninth without the benefit of a hit: a Mario Camilletti HBP, Antonacci walk, Bergolla walk set the table for the win.)