MOOSIC, PA – The Charlotte Knights were unable to claim Sunday’s series finale against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and dropped the afternoon contest 9-5. The loss resulted in a series split, with both Charlotte and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre winning three games, and a 5-7 record over the Knights’ season-long 12 game road trip.
The RailRiders struck first thanks to a fortuitous placement of the sun in the bottom of the third inning. Charlotte’s centerfielder, Junior Perez, lost a routine fly ball in the sun that would have ended the frame. The ball dropped and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre capitalized with two runs in the frame.
The home team carried that momentum into the fourth and rallied for three more runs, all with two outs, capped off by a three-run homer.
Trailing 5-0, Charlotte’s offense began to chip away. Jason Matthews hit an RBI single that scored Andy Weber in the fifth. After another RailRiders Home Run in the bottom half, Joey Wiemer and Riley Unroe each drove in a run in the sixth.
The two teams continued to trade runs with Charlotte’s next tally coming on a Rikuu Nishida RBI bunt. Weber added a solo Home Run in the ninth, but it was not enough to bring the Knights all the way back from the early deficit.
Weber finished the series with two homers, two doubles, and a .476 on-base percentage. Wiemer also finished with two hits in the game, his first-multi hit contest since joining the Knights ahead of the road trip.
Next up is a return to the Queen City for a six-game homestand against the Memphis Redbirds. The action begins Tuesday with Game One at 6:35pm ET from Truist Field.