Knights drop slugfest to Norfolk despite season-high 10 walks

Charlotte had the kind of night that should travel well on a box score and still felt empty by the eighth. The Knights scored first, surged back in front with two home runs, and drew a season-high 10 walks, but Norfolk kept answering until the Tides turned an early track meet into a 9-6 loss at Truist Field.

The game never settled in. Thirteen of the 15 total runs came in the first two and a half innings, and Charlotte’s first-inning burst looked like it might be enough. Rikuu Nishida sparked the rally with a line-drive double, LaMonte Wade Jr. worked a bases-loaded walk, and Oliver Dunn followed with a two-run double to push the Knights ahead 3-0. Charlotte looked in control for a beat, with the lineup forcing counts and punishing mistakes.

Norfolk punched right back with three runs in the second, but Charlotte reclaimed the lead with another power surge. Caden Connor homered, then Kyle Teel launched his first rehab homer for the Knights to make it 6-3. For Teel, the swing mattered twice: it gave Charlotte a cushion and marked the first real step in his return from the right hamstring injury that had sidelined him since March, when he was hurt during the World Baseball Classic.

That edge vanished fast. Norfolk exploded for four runs in the third off Brandon Eisert, then added another in the fourth to seize control for good. Charlotte’s bullpen sequence of Garrett Schoenle, Jordan Leasure, Chris Murphy and Adisyn Coffey steadied the game enough to keep the final margin from getting uglier, but the Knights’ offense never found the one big hit that could have flipped the night back.

The frustrating part for Charlotte was not the approach. The Knights drew 10 walks, with Wade accounting for four of them, and kept putting runners on base. The problem was finishing. Outside of Nishida, who was the only Knight with a multi-hit game, Charlotte could not turn traffic into the last decisive swing.

At 19-20 entering the night, the Knights had a chance to use a productive offensive start against a Norfolk club sitting at 15-24. Instead, the opener showed the difference between generating chances and cashing them in. The two clubs were set to meet again Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. ET, with Charlotte already needing a cleaner late-game answer.