Nishida Clubs Homer in Knights Debut, Team Drops Fourth Straight

JACKSONVILLE, FL – The Charlotte Knights were held in check on Friday night by the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and dropped their fourth straight contest overall. The Knights were limited to one run on five hits and fell by a final score of 4-1.

Charlotte has struggled offensively this week to a tune of three runs or less in all four of their games in Jacksonville. The Jumbo Shrimp have made a habit of limiting opposing hitters all season and boast the International League’s second best ERA.

One bright spot for the Knights was their newly acquired second-baseman Rikuu Nishida. The Osaka, Japan native clubbed a Home Run in his debut; a solo shot in the top of the ninth inning. Nishida was promoted to Charlotte from Double-A Birmingham ahead of the ballgame and had a grand total of one Home Run in his first 273 professional games.

Even though power is not a major part of Nishida’s repertoire, the newest Knight carries a career .405 on-base percentage and he finished his first game as a Knight with a 2-for-4 evening.

Korey Lee also added a pair of extra-base hits while Caden Connor added a hit and is now 4-for-8 across his first three games with Charlotte.

Tanner McDougal was effective over 4.1 innings on the mound. The hard-throwing righty ran into a little trouble in the fourth inning, but he kept the Knights within striking distance.

Charlotte and Jacksonville are right back at it on Saturday with the first pitch from VyStar Ballpark slated for 6:35pm ET.