Knights Rally Past Bulls, 6-4

Charlotte, NC --- Jason Coats delivered his second two-run double of the game in the eighth to break a 4-4 tie, lifting Charlotte past Durham 6-4 on Wednesday night at BB&T BallPark.

Coats drilled Kirby Yates' first pitch off the base of the left field wall with two outs to cap a six-run rally by first-place Charlotte (57-42). Yates allowed a single and a pair of one-out walks to load the bases before fanning Leury Garcia setting the stage for Coats.

Durham (49-48) jumped out front against Knights starter Scott Carroll thanks to a pair of early-game homers. Richie Shaffer hit his 16th Triple-A home run in the second, then JP Arencibia hit his league-leading 20th with a man on in the third as the Bulls moved ahead 4-0.

Bradin Hagens worked through five scoreless innings on 106 pitches, matching a career high with nine strikeouts.

However, leading 4-0 in the sixth, Jose Dominguez was greeted by a towering popfly on the infeild that landed untouched by Shaffer and Nick Franklin, then served up a two-run homer to Trayce Thompson to kickstart the Knights rally.

In the seventh, Coats doubled to right to tie the game, one batter after the Bulls miscommunicated on a bunt play.

Yates (L, 0-2) suffered the loss, while Jarrett Casey (W, 9-2) earned the win and tied Bulls lefty Scott Diamond for league honors with his ninth win, all coming from the Charlotte bullpen.

With the defeat, the Bulls fall a season-high seven games behind the Knights in third place in the South.

The series concludes on Thursday nigth with Matt Andriese (1-1, 2.19) opposing Hector Noesi (0-0, 1.29) at 7:05 PM ET.