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MLB

Charlotte Knights -- A Look at the First 38 Games

By
May 16, 2012

(Fort Mill, SC) -- The Charlotte Knights are a little more than a month into the season and after 38 games, they have a record of 19-19. While they are at the .500 mark, there have been some compelling storylines along the way.

The season began with a split of the opening four-game series with the Norfolk Tides at home, but it was followed up by a 2-5 road trip through Durham and Norfolk that left the Knights with seven losses in nine games and a 4-7 record. Turned out, all they needed was the friendly confines of Knights Stadium. They came home and went 6-1 in a homestand with the Durham Bulls and first-place Gwinnett Braves to push their record above .500 at 10-8. The Knights swept the four-game series with the Bulls.

They then had to become road warriors, or more like wandering nomads, as they headed out on a 13-game, 14-day road trip through Gwinnett, Syracuse, Lehigh Valley and Gwinnett again. This trip involved a rare postponed game in Syracuse due to cold temperatures and a game suspended by rain in Lehigh Valley with the score tied at three in the fourth inning. The postponed game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day with Charlotte and Syracuse each taking a win. The suspended game will be finished on May 24th at Knights Stadium before a regularly scheduled game for that day between the Knights and IronPigs. There were no more games scheduled between the two teams at Lehigh Valley this season. Charlotte went 5-7 on the 12 games completed on the trip to leave them at 15-15 on the year.

To keep with the .500 theme, the Knights just completed a 4-4 eight-game homestand with the Toledo Mud Hens and Buffalo Bisons. During the drama-packed week, they had four late-inning wins, three walk-off wins, three come-from-behind wins and two extra-inning wins. The Knights are 12-7 at home and 7-12 on the road. Charlotte is currently in second place in the International League South Division, 5 ½ games back of the Gwinnett Braves.

There are some individual Knights that have had standout performances thus far. Starting pitcher Dylan Axelrod has had an outstanding start to the season and even got called up to the big league White Sox and made a start. He leads the IL with a 0.87 ERA and has struck out at least five batters in each of his five starts this season. He has struck out a career-high nine in a game twice this season. In the start for Chicago on May 6 against Detroit, Axelrod pitched 4.1 innings and allowed two runs while striking out four.

He made two relief appearances for the Sox and allowed one run over 3.1 innings while striking out two.

Dan Johnson has been Mr. Reliable for Charlotte this year. He is first in the IL in on-base percentage (.472) and walks (36) and has had two nine-game hitting streaks. Johnson is hitting .303 with eight home runs and 32 RBI and has a three-run homer from the suspended game that will count on his statistics when the game is completed. He has an RBI in 13 of his last 17 games.

Greg Golson leads the team with a .312 batting average and is tied for first in the IL in hits with 44. He also has had a nine-game hitting streak and had three doubles in a game on April 8th against Norfolk.

Josh Phegley has a .303 average and had a 13-game hitting streak from April 13-April 30. He has thrown out 50% of the runners who have tried to steal against him.

Jordan Danks received the 2011 MiLB Rawlings Gold Glove Award on April 16th at Knights Stadium. The award was for defensive excellence for all of Minor League Baseball and it was presented to him by the President of Minor League Baseball.

Back on the mound, relief pitcher Leyson Septimo has not allowed a run in 16 1/3 innings over nine games this season and left-handed hitters are hitting .087 (2-for-23) against him. Closer Brian Bruney has five saves and a 1.62 ERA to this point.

The Knights will now leave the comforts of home for an eight-game road trip. They have four games at the Norfolk Tides followed by four at Durham. They will return to Knights Stadium on May 24th for an eight-day homestand starting with Lehigh Valley.