Knapp Shines On The Mound As 51s Take Opener

Las Vegas 51s @ Sacramento River Cats

April 22, 2017

Ricky Knapp @ Michael Roth

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Las Vegas	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0		3	11	0
Sacramento	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0		2	6	1

W: Knapp (1-01, 4.91 ERA); L: Johnson (0-2, 4.35 ERA); Save: Sewald (3, 2.57 ERA)

Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Ricky Knapp - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 2B, 1 HR, 11 TB, 1 BB, 5 K (5 K/Sw), 13 GB: 4 FB: 4 LD, 94 Pitches (61 Strikes), 10 Swinging, 17 Called, 10.6% SwStr, 22.7% Whiff/Swing, 13.4 Pitches/IP, 28 BF

Kevin McGowan - 1 IP, 1 K (1 K/Sw), 1 FB: 1 PU, 14 Pitches (7 Strikes), 2 Swinging, 2 Called, 14.3% SwStr, 40% Whiff/Swing, 14 Pitches/IP, 3 BF

Paul Sewald - 1 IP, 3 K (1 K/Sw), 17 Pitches (12 Strikes), 6 Swinging, 3 Called, 35.3% SwStr, 66.7% Whiff/Swing, 17 Pitches/IP, 3 BF

Batters

CF - Desmond Jennings - 1-4, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 CS, 10.5% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 3.8 Pitches/PA

2B - Gavin Cecchini - 0-5, 1 GIDP, 20% SwStr, 28.6% Whiff/Swing, 2 Pitches/PA

SS - Amed Rosario - 3-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 3.75 Pitches/PA

1B - Dominic Smith - 1-4, 12.5% SwStr, 28.6% Whiff/Swing, 4 Pitches/PA

RF - Travis Taijeron - 2-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 6.7% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 3.75 Pitches/PA

LF - Josh Rodriguez - 1-4, 1 K, 6.2% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 4 Pitches/PA

3B - Phillip Evans - 2-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 5.9% SwStr, 16.7% Whiff/Swing, 4.25 Pitches/PA

C - Xorge Carrillo - 1-4, 6.2% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 4 Pitches/PA

P - Ricky Knapp - 0-3, 1 K, 6.7% SwStr, 16.7% Whiff/Swing, 5 Pitches/PA

PH - Jayce Boyd - 0-1, 2 Pitches/PA

Recapish

            The Las Vegas 51s began their 4-game series in Sacramento Saturday night with a 3-2 win behind a great performance from Ricky Knapp. It was Knapp’s first PCL win in 7 attempts and he really earned it by dominating a strong River Cats lineup for 7 innings. Amed Rosario, Travis Taijeron, and Phillip Evans combined to provide all of the relevant offense, and those 51s infielders had big nights in the field too.

            Although he would turn in his strongest outing of the year thus far, Knapp’s found himself trailing 1-0 after just one batter – Drew Stubbs took him deep. Las Vegas didn’t let Sacramento hold onto that lead for long though, getting that run right back in the 2^nd before jumping ahead in the 3^rd. That score held until the River Cats managed a pair of well-placed doubles leading off the 6^th inning, which could’ve led to a big inning for Sacramento. Fortunately for the 51s, the infield defense stepped up over the next three plays to keep things tied after 6.

            Las Vegas managed to pull ahead in the 8^th thanks to a key two out single from Phillip Evans. After Knapp left, manager Pedro Lopez turned to his top two relievers to finish things off. Setup man Kevin McGowan worked a perfect 8^th, which was capped off with a strikeout of Michael Morse. To finish things off, closer Paul Sewald struck out the side in the 9^th, putting an exclamation point on this win.

            These two teams continue this series Sunday afternoon at 4:05 PM, with Rafael Montero scheduled to make his first PCL start of the year after starting the year in the Mets bullpen.

MiLB.tv Scoring Highlights

            Amed Rosario had another big night at the plate, which started with a two out single in the 1^st.

            Travis Taijeron got his big night started with a leadoff double in the 2^nd. He came around on Phil Evans first RBI single of the game. Las Vegas loaded the bases with nobody out in the frame but then failed to take the lead.

            After Rosario led off the 3^rd with his second hit of the game, Taijeron doubled him home to give the 51s a 2-1 edge.

            Rosario’s third hit of the game came when he doubled leading off the 5^th, but he would be stranded at 3B in the frame.

            Dominic Smith led off the 8^th with a single lined into the gap. Taijeron would take over for Smith on the bases and got to 2B with two outs for Evans, who promptly singled him home again for the decisive 3-2 lead.

MiLB.tv Defensive Highlights

            Phil Evans had a busy night over at 3B but continues to make tough plays look easy.

            Gavin Cecchini handled this hot shot at 2B nicely in the 1^st.

            This play from Amed Rosario for the first out of the 6^th was huge because Sacramento had just tied things up, so momentum was swinging their way. It’s the play you expect (hope) your SS will make, but it’s not an easy throw and it’s still a great heads up play.

            Desmond Jennings threw a runner out at home, which is always nice. Also, check out this play from Sacramento second baseman Orlando Calixte.

Pitcher Coverage

Ricky Knapp

Table 1 – Knapp pitch stats by inning

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	Total
Total	11	9	16	17	12	15	14	94
Strikes	6	6	9	11	10	11	8	61
Swinging*	1	2	2	2	2	1	0	10

*10.6% Swinging strike rate; 22.7% Whiff/Swing

Kevin McGowan

Paul Sewald

Bonus #1

GIF’s from the Binghamton Rumble Ponies loss

            Casey Delgado got tagged for four runs during a long third as the Ponies lost 5-1. The MiLB.tv feed was in-and-out early in the game, so I wasn’t able to check out the whole game, but the offense wasn’t doing much anyway:

Kevin Kaczmarski picked up his first double of the season in the 1^st.

Kevin Taylor had another multi-hit game, finishing with a pair of singles.

Tomas Nido added a hit but was replaced before the 5^th inning.

Luis Guillorme pulled his single into RF in the 5^th.

            The feed was out during the Erie half of the 2^nd, which is when Delgado struck out the side. He added three more strikeouts over the remainder of the game.

Bonus #2

GIF’s from the Columbia Fireflies loss

            The Fireflies were shutout for the second time in this series against Lexington – same ump both games Columbia was shutout – and only finished with 4 singles:

Gene Cone kept his on base streak alive with a singe in the 1^st, making it 10 straight games.

Michael Paez has been putting good wood on the bat over the past week and looks ready for a hot streak.

Dash Winningham had to leave this game early, so hopefully everything is OK with him.

Brandon Brosher lined one off the wall to start the 9^th, but he hit it too hard to go for a double.

            After leaving his last start early, Colin Holderman was tagged for a pair of two run homer’s over the games first two innings, but then settled down to go 5. He finished with 4 strikeouts:

            Austin McGeorge was the first in to relieve Holderman and he matched his 4 strikeout total over just 2 innings:

            Not to be outdone, Matt Blackham came in for the final two frames and also finished with 4 strikeouts:

In 2017 and 2018, three comets will pass near the Earth providing the opportunity to observe and study these icy interlopers. Watch: pic.twitter.com/ivoQuWojIx

— NASA (@NASA) April 23, 2017