Knights' Kopech wins Triple-A debut

After putting an exclamation point on his time in the Southern League, Michael Kopech took the mound Monday night one small, but significant, step away from the Majors.
There's little reason to believe his time in Triple-A won't mirror his previous dominance.

Kopech overcame a rocky start, allowing two runs on six hits over five innings to win his International League debut as Triple-A Charlotte scored four times in the fifth frame en route to a 4-2 win over Norfolk on Monday night at Harbor Park. MLB.com's No. 12 overall prospect struck out four and walked two.

The 21-year-old was promoted last Friday after recording three double-digit strikeout performances in his last four starts for the Double-A Barons.
Kopech (1-0) set down the first batter he faced, Joey Rickard, but a double by Mike Yastrzemski and a single by Drew Dosch led to a 1-0 lead for the Tides. Pedro Álvarez notched the third consecutive hit off the right-hander, who rebounded to strike out rehabbing big leaguer J.J. Hardy before getting top Orioles prospect Chance Sisco to ground out. A pair of singles and a wild pitch enabled Norfolk to extend the lead on a double-play groundout by Logan Schafer in the second. Then Kopech settled in.
Gameday box score
The third-ranked White Sox prospect retired five of six through the third and fourth innings. Given a 4-2 lead heading into the fifth, Kopech issued a one-out walk to Yastrzemski, who stole second. But the 2014 first-round Draft pick retired Dosch on a flyout to left field and struck out Alvarez to end his International League debut. Kopech needed 92 pitches to navigate through five innings, but only 48 over his final three frames.
"The first couple of innings, it was a little rough," he told the Chicago Tribune. "I wasn't able to execute my pitches the way I had been the past few months. My slider is always my strikeout pitch, and I definitely wasn't able to execute that. That led to a few more hits than I was wanting. But after that I got into a rhythm. Once all three of my pitches were working, I felt like I caught a groove."

Obtained from the Red Sox in the Dec. 6, 2016 trade for Chris Sale, Kopech was a midseason All-Star for the Barons in his first season in the White Sox organization. His final month in Double-A was dominant and he posted an 0.51 ERA, allowing two earned runs, 17 hits and five walks while striking out 49 in 35 innings. The Texas native left the Southern League tied with Pensacola's Deck McGuire for the circuit lead with 155 punchouts.
Matt Purke, Al Alburquerque and Brandon Brennan followed Kopech with four scoreless innings Monday to help nail down the win. 
• Get tickets to a Knights game »
Chicago's No. 13 prospect Casey Gillaspie and Jake Peter hit two-run homers in the fifth for Charlotte.
Norfolk's Rubén Tejada went 3-for-4 with two doubles.