CHARLOTTE, NC – The Charlotte Knights received a little help from their parent club on Tuesday night when star first-baseman Munetaka Murakami suited up for Charlotte to begin his Major League rehab assignment. Murakami and the Knights delivered an impressive performance and downed the Nashville Sounds 8-2 in the series opener.
The Knights struck in the bottom of the first inning when Rikuu Nishida and Murakami connected with back-to-back singles that set the table. Caden Connor’s sacrifice fly pushed Nishida across and Charlotte took a 1-0 lead.
In the second, the Knights loaded the bases ahead of Ryan Galanie. The Designated Hitter blasted a Grand Slam well over the left field wall and extended Charlotte’s lead out to 5-0.
Nolan Jones delivered a two-run double later in the game and Andy Weber chipped in an RBI single as part of his 2-for-4 evening at the plate.
The pitching was a collective effort. Charlotte used six arms across the contest’s nine innings; including Tanner McDougal who tossed a scoreless frame in his first appearance with the Knights since early May.
Nishida led the way offensively with three hits and Jason Matthews reached base in all four of his plate appearances.
Charlotte and Nashville are back at it on Wednesday night with the first pitch set for 7:04pm ET.