The Charlotte Knights scored seven runs in their first five innings Friday night in Jacksonville and held off a ninth-inning Jumbo Shrimp rally to win 8-5. The result puts Charlotte up 3-1 in the six-game series with two games to play.
Ryan Galanie opened the scoring in the second with a two-run triple. Caden Connor singled him in. Jacksonville answered with three unearned runs in the bottom half. The score was 3-3 after two innings.
Mario Camilletti put the Knights back in front with a leadoff home run in the top of the fifth. LaMonte Wade Jr. followed with a two-run single, then stole home as part of a double steal. Charlotte led 7-3.
Jacob Gonzalez added the eighth run in the seventh — an RBI double off the wall in right-center. Gonzalez currently ranks second in the International League in extra-base hits, total bases, and RBI.
The ninth turned interesting. Jacksonville loaded the bases and brought the winning run to the plate. Ben Peoples induced a soft groundout to second to end it.
Friday's win was Charlotte's fifth in the last six games. The lone loss in that stretch was the Wednesday-night walk-off in Game Two. The team is now back above .500 for the first time since April 3 and sits five games back of first place in the entire International League.
Tonight's game at 6:35 p.m. ET is the series clincher if Charlotte wins. The Knights took the series opener Tuesday 5-3, gave Game Two back on a walk-off Wednesday 7-6, and have rolled the next two — Thursday's 16-1 dispatch and Friday's 8-5 — to put the series within one win of decided.
Sunday's finale, if needed, is at 2:05 p.m. ET.
Update, May 10: Charlotte did not clinch Saturday. The Knights trailed Jacksonville 6-0, scored five in the sixth, and lost 6-5. The series goes to Sunday's G6 with Charlotte still leading 3-2 — the same lead they took into Saturday, one win still needed.