Game 77: Jumbo Shrimp at Knights

Cooper Huskey

Published in

Shrimp & Grits

4 min readAug 1, 2021

Sunday, August 1, 2021–5:05 p.m. ET

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (43–33) at Charlotte Knights (27–49)

Truist Field — Charlotte, N.C.

LAST TIME OUT:

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp beat the Charlotte Knights 10–4, putting them 10 games over .500 for the first time since 2014. The Jumbo Shrimp took advantage of a shaky bullpen from Charlotte, and scored eight combined runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Tristan Pompey put Jacksonville on the board first with a two-run single in the top of the second inning. The Knights scored a run in the bottom of the fourth and the fifth to tie the game at two. The score remained tied when the game came to a screeching halt in the seventh inning. In that seventh inning, three Jumbo Shrimp batters drew walks to load the bases. Zach Zehner then drew a fourth walk of the inning to break the tie and give the Jumbo Shrimp a 3–2 lead. Lorenzo Quitana then stepped up to the plate and hit a bases-clearing, three-run double that put Jacksonville up 6–2. Charlotte kept the game interesting with a two-run home run in the bottom half of the seventh to cut the deficit in half, but the Knights’ bullpen did the team no favors. Tevin Mitchell hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to give the Jumbo Shrimp a 7–4 lead. Jacksonville then kept putting runners on the bases with walks or singles. A balk brought in an eighth run for the Jumbo Shrimp and wild pitch scored the ninth. Pompey then walked one more time bringing in a 10th and final run for Jacksonville.

**Tristan Pompey** brought in the first two runs of the game with an RBI single and thenthe final run of the game with a walk. (Fran Ruchalski/Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp)

GAME INFO:

The Jumbo Shrimp look to close out a seven-game series with the Charlotte Knights tonight. Jacksonville already leads the series 5–1.

MEET THE KNIGHTS:

The Charlotte Knights are the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 2014 and is located in Uptown Charlotte.

Charlotte walked 10 batters last night, two of which brought in runs for the Jumbo Shrimp. In the previous five games of the series leading up to last night, Charlotte had only walked 12 batters. This season, the Knights pitching staff has walked the most batters of all Triple-A East teams, with 366 free passes through 76 games.

The Knights are skippered by former major league infielder Wes Helms, who is in his first season in Charlotte. He previously served as the bench coach of Double-A Birmingham in 2019, after one season in 2018 in the same season for Triple-A Lehigh Valley (Phillies). Helms played 13 seasons in the big leagues, suiting up for the Braves, Brewers, Marlins, and Phillies.

The Jumbo Shrimp and the Knights will play 30 games against each of this season. Add that to the 36 games Jacksonville will play against Durham and Norfork, and the Jumbo Shrimp will play 102 games of their 130-game season against the same three teams. The other 28 games will be played against the other three teams in the Southeast Division. Jacksonville has played the other three teams once, and has a five game series against Memphis and Gwinnett at the end of the season as a part of Triple-A’s Final Stretch.

PITCHING MATCHUP:

RHP Luis Madero (4–2, 3.41 ERA)

Luis Madero will make his seventh start of the season tonight for the Jumbo Shrimp. Madero’s last start for the Jumbo Shrimp was July 15 against the Durham Bulls. Madero tossed three innings and allowed two runs on five hits. Madero was then recalled to Miami on July 20, and pitched a scoreless inning for the Marlins on July 23 against the San Diego Padres. Madero was sent back to Jacksonville on July 28. Madero has four pitches in his repertoire: a fastball, curveball, changeup, and a cutter.

RHP Alex McRae (2–5, 5.47 ERA)

Alex McRae will start his 10th game for the Charlotte Knights tonight. Earlier in 2021, Charlotte used McRae as a middle reliever, but his last nine pitching appearances have been starts. His last start was July 27 in the series opener against the Jumbo Shrimp. McRae tossed 4.1 innings, allowed three runs on eight hits. McRae has four pitches in his repertoire: a fastball, change-up, sinker, and curveball.

LINEUP

Monte Harrison, DH
Justin Twine, 2B
Joe Dunand, 3B
Zack Zehner, CF
Lorenzo Quintana, 1B
Payton Henry, C
Tristan Pompey, LF
Tevin Mitchell, RF
Devin Hairston, SS

NEWS FROM THE TROUPE:

Payton Henry will make his Jumbo Shrimp debut tonight. He was acquired by the Marlins on July 30 in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. Henry began the 2021 season with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers and was then promoted to Triple-A Nashville on June 23. With the Sounds, Henry played three games against Jacksonville and went 5-for-10 with two doubles and an RBI.

TRIPLE-A SOUTHEAST DIVISION STANDINGS