Saturday night at Truist Field, your Charlotte Knights hit seven home runs.

SEVEN. Dru Baker opened the scoring with a three-run shot in the second. Mario Camilletti — the same Mario Camilletti who walked one off in the tenth against Memphis last month — went deep twice. Jacob Gonzalez parked a grand slam in the middle of an eight-run sixth inning. Michael Turner homered in that same sixth. Oliver Dunn and Korey Lee tagged on two more in the eighth, just because.

Final score: Charlotte 21, Gwinnett 1. The Stripers' previous franchise record for home runs allowed in a single game was six — also at Truist Field, back on July 18, 2021. The new record, folks, is seven. Set Saturday night.

By the late innings, Gwinnett was so out of arms that they sent three position players to the mound. Aaron SCHUNK retired the only batter he faced — first career pitching appearance, on the same night he went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI. The kid was carrying the team in both directions. Just not on the same scoreboard.

Look. We owe you a catch-up. The last Knights piece on this site went up April 22 — the Education Day series-opener loss to Nashville. In the eleven days since, your Charlotte Knights have played ten ballgames at Truist Field. Some of them were brilliant, some of them were ugly, a couple were historic. Here's the whole arc.

The Nashville Series: Four Straight, and a Series Win

Wednesday night (April 22), with the Sounds leading 1-0 after a half inning, Charlotte loaded the bases for LaMonte Wade Jr. — the former Giants first baseman now in the White Sox organization on a minor-league deal. Drew Romo had walked with the bases loaded the batter before to put Charlotte on the board. Then Wade clubbed a 405-foot grand slam over the right field wall to make it 5-1.

Quinn Priester — the Sounds' starter — didn't make it through the inning.

Charlotte loaded the bases again the next time up. This time it was Jarred Kelenic — the former Mariners and Braves outfielder, also on a minor-league deal — who drove one down the right field line for the second grand slam in two innings.

9-1 Knights in two frames. Final score 9-4.

That set the tone. Thursday night (April 23), Charlotte and Nashville went to extras tied 2-2. Tate Kuehner was excellent for the Sounds — 5.2 innings, eight strikeouts, just one earned run on a Kelenic solo shot in the first. Ryan Galanie tied it with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the seventh. The Sounds had the go-ahead run on third base with no outs in the top of the tenth and didn't score. The Knights played small ball in the bottom of the inning, took an intentional walk to set up the double play, and won it on a single up the left side. Walk-off, 3-2.

Friday night (April 24), Jacob Gonzalez had himself a night. Two three-run home runs. Six RBIs. Final score 11-9, with 8,200-plus down at Truist Field watching the Knights take a 3-1 series lead.

Saturday (April 25), the Knights clinched the series with a 16-6 blowout. Four straight wins after dropping the opener.

Sunday (April 26) was the series finale, and Nashville got the last word in a 5-1 win — three home runs off the Knights staff, with LaMonte Wade Jr. driving in Charlotte's only run on an eighth-inning RBI single. Series result: Charlotte 4, Nashville 2.

That's the Knights winning a series in front of the home folks. After dropping the Jacksonville series earlier this month on the road, this team came home, dropped Education Day, and reeled off four straight wins.

Then the Stripers Came to Town

And here's the thing — momentum doesn't carry itself. Gwinnett rolled in Tuesday, April 28, the Atlanta Braves' Triple-A affiliate, and won three of the first four games.

In Tuesday's opener, the Stripers built a 9-1 lead through six innings on home runs from Jim Jarvis, Brewer Hicklen, and Luke Williams. Charlotte mounted a late rally and made it 10-7, but came up short. Stripers win the opener.

Wednesday (April 29) was Education Day round two — 11:05 AM first pitch, kids in the stands again. Gwinnett took a 9-6 lead after a five-run sixth, and Charlotte answered with two-run rallies in the bottom of the seventh and the bottom of the eighth. Final: 10-9 Knights. Series tied 1-1.

That was the last good night for the home team for a while.

Thursday night (April 30), Brett Wisely (yes, the same Brett Wisely who pitched in the position-player relief on Saturday — file that one away) had four hits and five RBIs for Gwinnett, including a grand slam to right-center in the third. The Knights chased the lead all night and lost 9-5. Stripers up 2-1.

Friday night (May 1), Charlotte led 1-0 into the sixth. Then Gwinnett's Nacho Alvarez Jr. hit a three-run opposite-field home run, and Rowdy Tellez took the very next pitch out to left-center — Gwinnett's first back-to-back homers of the season. 4-1 quickly. The Knights got a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch run back, but reliever Ian Hamilton stranded the tying run on base in the ninth. 4-3 Stripers. Series 3-1.

Three losses in four games. Bats quiet. Bullpen letting one slip late on Friday. The kind of stretch where the rotation is working hard and getting nothing for it.

Saturday: Statement Night

And then Saturday happened.

Atlanta Braves' No. 6 prospect Owen Murphy made his Triple-A debut Saturday night for Gwinnett. Five runs on six hits in four innings. The eighteenth former Braves first-round pick to ever play for Gwinnett — the twelfth pitcher to do it. Welcome to the International League, kid.

Baker's three-run shot in the second made it 4-0. Camilletti's opposite-field solo in the fourth made it 5-0. Schunk's RBI double for Gwinnett in the top of the sixth got the visitors on the board. And then Charlotte put the bat on the ball.

Eight runs in the bottom of the sixth. Gonzalez's grand slam. Turner's home run. Knights up 13-1 by the end of the inning.

Camilletti added his second homer in the seventh. Dunn and Lee went deep in the eighth. Seven home runs. Five hits and three RBIs for Camilletti. Four RBIs each for Gonzalez, Turner, and Baker.

The position players started warming up because Gwinnett's bullpen was emptied. Williams, Wisely, Schunk — all on the mound by night's end. Schunk got his out and went 2-for-4 with a double earlier in the same ballgame. Tell me when you've ever seen that.

Gwinnett's previous franchise record for home runs allowed in a single game was six, set against — that's right — Charlotte at Truist Field on July 18, 2021. Seven is the new number. In a 21-1 ballgame. The kind of result you tell the folks back home about.

What Comes Next at Truist Field

Sunday afternoon (1:05 PM down at Truist Field) is the series finale. The Stripers still lead the series 3-2. Charlotte needs the win to split the six-game set 3-3. Lose it, and Gwinnett takes the series 4-2.

This homestand has been all over the map. A series win against Nashville to wash out the bad taste of Jacksonville. A slow stagger against Gwinnett. A 21-1 statement game on Saturday night to remind everyone what these bats can do when they're locked in.

Eleven days at Truist Field. Ten games. One series in the bank, one still on the line, and a Saturday night the Stripers are not going to forget any time soon.

Let's see what you've got, Knights.