Jacksonville surrenders late lead in loss to Charlotte

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Luis Aviles Jr. and Ray-Patrick Didder each blasted a home run on Friday but the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp fell to the Charlotte Knights 7-5 in front of 8,179 at 121 Financial Ballpark.

After falling behind 5-4 in the sixth, Charlotte (57-88) regained the lead with a rally in the seventh. With one out, Blake Rutherford walked and advanced to second on a passed ball. Two batters later, Craig Dedelow walked and a wild pitch by Jacksonville (77-67) reliever Will Stewart (L, 6-5) put runners on second and third. *Zach Remillard *walked and Mark Paytonfollowed with a bases-clearing double to flip the game 7-5 in favor of the Knights.

The Knights broke the game open in the second inning. Lenyn Sosa (9) launched a solo home run to lead off the inning to give Charlotte a 1-0 advantage.

The Knights built up their lead with a run in the third. Zach Remillard was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Mark Payton drew a walk. Two batters later, Yolbert Sánchez knocked a base hit, scoring Remillard from second to push the lead to 2-0.

The Jumbo Shrimp broke through on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Aviles Jr. (7) walloped a solo home run off Charlotte starter Scott Blewett (W, 1-1) to cut the deficit to 2-1.

In the fourth inning, Rutherford doubled and went to third on a bloop double from Xavier Fernandez. Dedelow was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Two batters later, with the bases still loaded, Payton hit a sac fly to push the Charlotte advantage to 3-1.

The Knights added to their lead in the fifth inning. With one out, Sosa and Haseley singled. An errant pickoff attempt allowed runners to move up to second and third before Rutherford smacked a single to score Sosa and give Charlotte a 4-1 lead.

Jacksonville took their first lead of the day with a huge sixth inning. Aviles Jr. led off with a double and scored two batters later on a base hit from Brian Miller. Didder (2) followed with a mammoth two-run home run to tie the game at four. Jesús Sánchez *smacked the fourth hit of the inning and went to third on a base hit from *Willians Astudillo. With runners at the corners, Blewett balked to score Sánchez as the Jumbo Shrimp took the lead 5-4.

Jacksonville continues their series with Charlotte on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. The Knights will hand the ball to LHP Kyle Kubat (7-4, 5.16 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. ET on MiLB.tv and the Jumbo Shrimp online stream.

Saturday’s game is the final Saturday giveaway of the season. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the first 2,000 fans through the gates will receive a Jumbo Shrimp Beach Bag Cooler presented by Ascension St. Vincent’s. It’s also Miami Nights at the ballpark and the Jumbo Shrimp will be wearing their Miami Nights jerseys that are currently up for auction on www.jaxshrimp.com.

ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp offer affordable family fun at 121 Financial Ballpark. Their inaugural season garnered the Southern League’s Don Mincher Organization of the Year, Promotional Trophy and Jimmy Bragan Executive of the Year, won by general manager Harold Craw. The club added its second Promotional Trophy in three years following the 2019 season. The 2021 season marked the return of Triple-A baseball in Jacksonville. To experience the excitement with the terrific value of ticket and group options, call the Jumbo Shrimp at (904) 358-2846 or visit www.jaxshrimp.com.