With the universal adoption of the designated hitter, it's hard for a pitcher to provide the walk-off hit to seal his own victory, but Laz Rivera is built different.
For starters, he's not a pitcher.
Rivera, a utility player who's thrown high-60s knuckleballs to wrap up a few tough nights for the Charlotte Knights this year, moved to the mound from left field to handle the 10th inning of Thursday's game against Durham, and it went better than anybody could've possibly expected.
Rivera needed only seven pitches to strand the runner on second with a groundout, popout and flyout, keeping the game tied at 3. Then he came to the plate as the second hitter in the bottom of the 10th after Erik Gonzalez's sac bunt turned into a single that put runners on the corners, and Double Duty Rivera ended the game with a deep drive that bounced on the warning track.
Charlotte 4, Durham 3
- José Rodríguez went 0-for-4.
- Carlos Pérez, 1-for-3 with a homer and a walk.
Biloxi 18, Birmingham 1
- Alsander Womack went 1-for-4.
- Colson Montgomery, 0-for-2 with a walk, strikeout and HBP.
- Bryan Ramos went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Wilfred Veras accounted for the offense with a solo homer.
- Edgar Quero was 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Tim Elko and Terrell Tatum both were 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Luis Mieses, 0-for-4 with one K.
- Josimar Cousin's Double-A debut: 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
- Jared Kelley: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR
Lynchburg 9, Kannapolis 8
- Rikuu Nishida went 2-for-6 with a triple.
- Eddie Park, 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Jacob Gonzalez walked thrice during an 0-for-2 night.
- Shane Murphy: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR
