Charlotte had it at 1-0 through four innings. Jonathan Cannon was working efficiently against a Memphis lineup that opened the season with seven consecutive wins — the best start in Redbirds franchise history — and the game looked like it might stay small.
Then the sixth inning happened.
Memphis scored six runs in the sixth, turning a competitive game into a 9-1 deficit that Charlotte spent the final three innings trying to make respectable. The Knights pulled it to 9-4 but never seriously threatened. Final score: Memphis 9, Charlotte 4.
The Inning That Ended It
The damage came fast. César Prieto hit his third home run of the season, and Jimmy Crooks capped the frame with a three-run shot — his fourth. Bryan Torres went 3-for-4 on the night with two runs scored. By the time the inning ended, the Redbirds had batted around and Charlotte's pitching staff was in recovery mode.
Everything before the sixth was competitive. Everything after it was arithmetic.
Late Life from Lee
Korey Lee provided the best moment of the night with a leadoff home run in the eighth — his first of the year. Lee, back in Charlotte after time with the White Sox, put it out with the game already decided, but first home runs land regardless of the score.
Sam Antonacci drew a bases-loaded walk later in the eighth, and Charlotte had the tying run in the on-deck circle before William Bergolla Jr. lined out to end it.
Jarred Kelenic's RBI double in the fifth had put the Knights on the board at 3-1 and suggested Charlotte might have an answer. Dru Baker went 1-for-4 and extended his hit streak to seven games.
The Pitching
Cannon gave up a run in the first on a Joshua Báez double and settled in, keeping Memphis to one through four. Nelson Velázquez broke it open with a solo home run in the fifth — and then the sixth happened.
Hunter Dobbins started for Memphis on an MLB rehab assignment, working his way back from ACL surgery. The Knights were facing a Cardinals-level arm, which explains the early-inning quiet.
Tyson Miller absorbed the six-run sixth. Ben Peoples and Wikelman Gonzalez combined for three scoreless innings out of the bullpen — the kind of clean work that matters more on Wednesday than it did on Tuesday.
The Series
Charlotte falls to 4-4. This is Memphis's only visit to Truist Field in 2026 — six games, all this week. The Knights have five more chances to change the tone of this series before heading to Jacksonville next week.
Game 2 is Wednesday at 6:35 PM.