Record
2-3 (September 13-18)
67-76 (overall, eighth place of 10)
34-35 (second half, fifth place of 10)

Jacksonville begets Syracuse, and the results get no sunnier. Despite talent beginning to flow up from the loaded Birmingham Barons, even a second-half shot at .500 appears to be fading in the rearview mirror.

September 13: Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 8, Charlotte Knights 5
Mark Payton has had one incredible baseball adventure. The Orland Park native starred with a major college program at the University of Texas, made the majors at age 28 after a fairly long road in the minors, and most recently with the White Sox got a merit call-up late in 2022 with the White Sox after tipping the scales all season at Charlotte. After his Knights success, the NPB came calling and Payton headed to Japan in hopes of the late-career stardom he would not be tasting in the majors. His stint with the Seibu Lions did not work out, and he returned last fall to the White Sox, with a re-set of expectations; at this point, Payton just wants to play until he’s told he gotta hang the spikes up. The 2024 season has not been as prodigious as 2022, but Payton has still ranks on the short list of the organization’s best outfielders, even at age 33. Tonight the Knights fell short, again, but Payton did not. His 2022 and 2024 seasons in Charlotte qualify him as an inner-circle all-time great there.

GAME MVP
Mark Payton (CF) 3-for-5, R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 K, 9.1% WPA

September 14 (Game 1): Charlotte Knights 10, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 0 (7 innings)
It’s not easy to pile up 10 runs in any game, much less an MiLB-perverted seven-inning doubleheader game, but that’s just what Charlotte did here, mauling Shrimper starter Collin Lowe for seven earned over eight outs. Multihit maulers included Michael Chavis, Carlos Pérez and Oscar Colás. Meanwhile Touki Toussaint took on a start and lasted four innings, pacing the way for the Knights to stifle Jax to just two hits.

GAME MVP
Touki Touissant (RHSP) 4 IP, 2 H, 7 K, 10.5% WPA

September 14 (Game 2): Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 2, Charlotte Knights 0 (7 innings)
Maybe we can just call this Shane Murphy’s proper Triple-A debut. The curiously-assigned southpaw has had two stints with Charlotte without ever pitching a game at the know proving grounds of Double-A Charlotte. His first career start for Charlotte, back on June 7, was a nigh-disastrous effort yielding eight earned runs in four innings. After logging more time down at Winston-Salem, Murphy returned to Triple-A to start again, and things went swimmingly: three scoreless innings, with five Ks. Dribble out Nick Nastrini for two scoreless frames after than (four Ks) and you’d really think you had the makings of a doubleheader sweep. But, nay. Aaron McGarity let up two runs (one earned) in the sixth inning, and with Charlotte’s bats resting after that big opener outburst (five hits, five left on, nada with RISP) this quickly turned into a giveaway loss.

GAME MVP
Nick Nastrini (RHRP) 2 IP, H, BB, 4 K, 20.1% WPA

September 17: Syracuse Mets 15, Charlotte Knights 7
Through five, the Knights were still fighting. But the second half of this game was just one Syracuse assault after another, and frankly the home team should have saved some hits and runs for later in the series. Deivi García had strung together several short miracle spot starts, notably good especially for a veteran accustomed to a certain role (namely, NOT starting), but on this day things took a turn (seven runs/five earned over three innings). Deivi dug a hole that his hitters tried to dig out of, but it was too deep. Tim Elko was BUFF; had we said something already about this Bunyonesque mauler getting hot?

GAME MVP
Tim Elko (1B) 2-for-4, R, 4 RBI, HR, BB, K, 31.0% WPA

September 18: Charlotte Knights 9, Syracuse Mets 8 (10 innings)
That Elko guy slapped another two singles in this game and led all players with a 34.6% WPA, and both he and Michael Chavis had the RBI safeties that pushed two across in the 10th and ultimately delivered Charlotte the win. But Colson Montgomery’s uneven season took a sweeter turn as the song swanned, swatting a homer and driving in four for the game. This was also Mason Adams’ final start of the season; while it wasn’t pretty per se (4 IP, 3 ER), hats off to a bright and rising star in the system, running out a 7-5 record with a 2.92 ERA and 1.15 WHIP over 23 games/22 starts this season. He is assuredly making his MLB debut in 2025 and stands a shot to break camp with the club depending on how Cactus time goes.

GAME MVP
Tim Elko (1B) 2-for-5, R, 3 RBI, BB, K, 34.6% WPA

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Tim Elko photo by Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights