Richard Fitts. That's the one-name answer to how Thursday night ended down at Truist Field.
Your Charlotte Knights ran into the Cardinals' Triple-A rotation at its best. Fitts went five strong for Memphis. Two relievers closed it out. Charlotte managed a run — and that was it. Final: Memphis 4, Charlotte 1. The Redbirds became the first professional baseball team to ten wins on the year, and Charlotte fell behind in the homestand, two games to one.
Here's the full picture from a first half of what's shaping up to be a legitimately competitive six-game series.
Tuesday Night: Memphis Announced Itself
The series opener belonged to Memphis from the jump. The Redbirds used a six-run sixth inning to blow a close game open on Tuesday night and walked out of Truist Field with a 9-4 victory. Hunter Dobbins — rehabbing on assignment from the Cardinals' big-league club after ACL surgery last July — threw five-plus effective innings and took the win.
The Knights made noise late. Korey Lee launched a solo home run in the eighth inning to spark a comeback attempt, but the hole was too deep. Charlotte had been outrun.
Wednesday Night: Noah Schultz Took Over
Then Wednesday happened — and it was a reminder of exactly what this team can do.
Noah Schultz, the 22-year-old, 6-foot-10 left-hander who is one of the top pitching prospects in the White Sox organization, went five innings, struck out nine, and gave the offense a platform to work with. Charlotte made full use of it.
The third inning was the whole ballgame. Korey Lee opened it with a three-run home run. Jacob Gonzalez followed with a two-run blast. Five runs in one inning, and the Knights never looked back. Charlotte 7, Memphis 3. Series tied.
THAT is the version of this team that keeps manager Chad Pinder feeling good about what he's building here.
Thursday Night: Fitts Was the Difference
Game Three hurt the way pitching duels usually hurt: the Knights did plenty right and came away with one run.
Richard Fitts — a right-hander the Cardinals acquired from Boston in the Willson Contreras trade over the winter — went five innings for Memphis, allowed a single run on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts, and took the win. Then the Redbirds bullpen took over and finished the job. Max Rajcic threw 2.2 scoreless. Luis Gastelum nailed down his first career Triple-A save in the ninth. Final: Memphis 4, Charlotte 1 — a regulation loss with nowhere to hide the offense's quiet night.
Memphis, with the win, became the first professional baseball team to ten on the year. Charlotte now owns a 2-1 series deficit going into Friday's Game Four.
The kind of game you have to put behind you fast. Fortunately, Charlotte doesn't have a choice — Game Four is tonight.
What's Next
Three games remain in this Memphis homestand: tonight (Game 4, 7:04 p.m. at Truist Field), Saturday (Game 5, 6:05 p.m.), and Sunday's finale (Game 6, 1:05 p.m.).
The math is simple. The Knights need two wins in the final three games to take the series. That's doable. The team that showed up Wednesday night knows how to do it.
The Charlotte Knights went 65-85 last year and went 4-3 before this Memphis series opened. The roster carries real big-league futures — Schultz, William Bergolla Jr., and a deep, talented bullpen built for this level. The season is long. But a 2-1 hole against the Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate is exactly the kind of test that tells you something about a ballclub.
Truist Field, 7:04 tonight. Come find out what this team is made of.
Update: Charlotte won Game Four 9-8 in ten innings. Full recap here. Series tied 2-2.