CHARLOTTE –Andrew Pintar reached base five times on Saturday as the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp scored two in the seventh, six in the eighth and four in the ninth to stampede the Charlotte Knights 15-6 from Truist Field.
With Charlotte (29-27) ahead 5-3, Payton Green singled and Jared Serna doubled to start the seventh. Matthew Etzel singled in the pair to tie the game at five.
Knights reliever Ben Peoples (3-1) unraveled in the eighth inning. He walked the first four Jumbo Shrimp (31-26) batters, forcing in the go-ahead run. Serna followed with a sacrifice fly before Etzel walked. Jacob Berry registered a sacrifice fly and Agustín Ramírez singled in a run. After a hit-by-pitch, Ethan O’Donnell’s two-run single widened the gap to 11-5.
Green was hit by a pitch to start the ninth. After a pop out, Etzel walked and Berry singled in Green. Two batters after that, Rece Hinds and O’Donnell notched consecutive RBI singles. After a Pintar base hit loaded the bases, Gage Miller walked with the bases loaded to make it 15-5.
Korey Lee’s RBI double in the bottom of the ninth set the final margin at 15-6.
The Knights jumped out to an early lead. Junior Perez and Braden Montgomery led off the bottom of the first with base hits. Perez advanced to third on a double play and then scored the game’s first run on a Lee RBI single.
The Jumbo Shrimp grabbed their first lead in the second. Pintar led off with a walk before Miller bashed his first Triple-A home run for the 2-1 advantage.
Charlotte answered immediately in their half of the second. Dustin Harris and Dru Baker each singled to jumpstart the frame. They scored on Jason Matthews’ two-run double to swing things to 3-2.
A Pintar long ball in the third was the equalizer to make it 3-3.
In the fifth, Perez singled and Montgomery doubled. Perez beat the throw home on a ground ball to second to put the Knights in front again. Two batters later, a Ryan Galanie double gave Charlotte a 5-3 advantage.
Jack Ralston (1-1) earned the win with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.
Jacksonville bids for a series split with Charlotte in Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. ET contest. Coverage begins at 12:50 p.m. on ESPN 690AM and www.ESPN690.com.
ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins and compete in the International League. The 2025 International League and Triple-A National Champions, the Jumbo Shrimp call VyStar Ballpark home for baseball but also a wide variety of additional community focused events with a goal of providing Affordable, Family, FUN to Northeast Florida. Winners of many marketing and sales awards and recognition since the team was rebranded prior to the 2017 season, the Jumbo Shrimp continually lead the state of Florida in attendance across all minor league professional sports organizations.