Charlotte Knights Tim Beckham and Jake Burger are crushing home runs at Truist Field

Nobody in the Charlotte Knights dugout knows more about hitting home runs than Tim Beckham.

The 31-year-old Beckham leads the Knights in home runs with eight on the season, including four in the last two games — two apiece. On Tuesday, his two-dinger night couldn’t inspire his team to a series-opening win over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, dropping the game 6-4.

But Wednesday, the big bat of Beckham pushed Charlotte to an 11-2 victory. He jump-started the Knights with a towering solo shot to left field in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Knights a 3-1 lead. It was one of three runs the Knights scored that inning, capped off by an RBI double from third baseman Jake Burger.

“(Beckham) has sparked this offense in the last few days,” Knights manager Wes Helms said. “I mean, it’s hard to continue what he’s done the last two nights, but I think you’re going to see a lot of good things over the next few days and few weeks.”

Then, in the bottom of the seventh, with two outs and two runners on base, Burger — second on the team in home runs with seven — sent the ninth pitch of his at-bat careening over left-center field for a three-run bomb, putting the score at 8-2.

Maybe a little inspiration from Beckham?

“A big thing (Beckham) and I have talked about is just kind of staying grounded and being able to do what you do on a daily basis,” Burger said. “And we have a lot of discussions about approach because we’re very similar hitters, so it’s just been awesome learning from him.”

But Beckham wasn’t about to let Burger take the team lead in home runs. In the bottom of the eighth, he lined a pitch from Jacksonville reliever Rob Zastryzny to left center, sending himself and catcher Seby Zavala around the bases for a two-run slam.

Beckham is four home runs off the Triple-A East lead, held by Omaha’s Ryan McBroom.

Beckham finished the night 2 for 4 with two home runs and three RBIs, while Burger finished 2 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs.

Helms attributed much of Beckham’s success to the work ethic he’s shown in practice.

“(Beckham’s) been working hard,” Helms said. “He’s been here every day in the cage, you know, comes out and hits the machine early. He’s just really working on staying on the ball instead of just pulling off and rounding it, and it’s showing in the game. He is driving balls now.”

It was Beckham’s homers that kept the Knights competitive during Game 1 of the week-long series, and it was his long ball again that sparked the offense to life and victory Wednesday. Perhaps that penchant for multi-homer games can transfer from the veteran Beckam to the young Burger.

“It’s awesome,” Burger said. “In front of the fans and everything, the place just erupts. It’s so fun, it’s always fun playing here.”

The Knights and Jumbo Shrimp will play again at 7:04 p.m. Thursday at Trust Field.