Redbirds jump on Knights early, beat Charlotte 10-5 in opener
Dustin Harris homered and finished 3-for-4, but Memphis answered with five runs in the first and beat Charlotte 10-5 at AutoZone Park.
Memphis erased Charlotte’s quick jolt and turned the series opener into a first-inning fight that was over before the Knights could settle in, winning 10-5 at AutoZone Park on June 30. Dustin Harris put Charlotte in front with a solo homer to right field in the first, but the Redbirds answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning and added two more in the second to seize control.
Harris kept his strong stretch going with his sixth home run of the season for Charlotte and finished 3-for-4 with a double, giving the Knights one of their best offensive nights even in defeat. It just did not matter much against a Memphis lineup that kept stacking traffic early and forcing Charlotte to chase the game from the opening inning. The Redbirds’ seven runs across the first two frames set the tone and made every comeback attempt feel like damage control.
Mason Adams never found a way through the early surge. The right-hander ran into trouble in the second inning and was chased after what the club described as a rare rough outing, leaving Charlotte to soak up innings while the deficit kept growing. Memphis did not ease off after that, plating two more runs in the fourth to push the margin to 9-1 and take the last real suspense out of the night.
Charlotte finally put together a response in the sixth, and it came with a little help from shaky Redbirds defense. Michael Turner, Ryan Galanie, Jason Matthews and Mario Camilletti all delivered RBI hits during the rally, trimming the score enough to make the box line look less severe. But the Knights never seriously threatened to catch Memphis, and the Redbirds’ early cushion held comfortably the rest of the way.
There were a couple of clean bullpen notes for Charlotte, with Chase Plymell and Wikelman Gonzalez each throwing scoreless innings. Even so, the damage had already been done long before the late push, and the 10-5 loss sent the Knights to a fourth straight defeat. Game 2 now becomes about something basic and unforgiving: getting the first two innings under control before Memphis can dictate the pace again.
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