Smith-Shawver, Vines Combine to Four-Hit Jumbo Shrimp

Prospect tandem AJ Smith-Shawver and Darius Vines lead Stripers to 2-0 road win

Darius Vines scattered four hits over 6.0 scoreless innings in relief on Friday night, finishing off the shutout. (Josh Conner)

By Dave Lezotte (@davelezotte)

September 15, 2023

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – AJ Smith-Shawver opened the game with 3.0 hitless innings, and Darius Vines finished it with 6.0 four-hit frames as the Gwinnett Stripers (67-73) shut out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (68-73) 2-0 on Friday night at 121 Financial Ballpark. Decisive Plays: The Stripers broke the scoreless deadlock in

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – AJ Smith-Shawver opened the game with 3.0 hitless innings, and Darius Vines finished it with 6.0 four-hit frames as the Gwinnett Stripers (67-73) shut out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (68-73) 2-0 on Friday night at 121 Financial Ballpark.

Decisive Plays: The Stripers broke the scoreless deadlock in the fifth with two outs as Joe Hudson doubled and scored on a single by Dalton Guthrie. In the eighth, Andrew Velazquez singled, stole second, and eventually scored on a Braden Shewmake sacrifice fly to raise the lead to 2-0. After Smith-Shawver faced the minimum in the first three innings, excellent defense helped Vines (W, 3-2) strand six Jacksonville baserunners.

Key Contributors: Smith-Shawver (3.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 SO) and Vines (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 SO) combined to allow just seven baserunners all night. Velazquez went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base, while Guthrie and Shewmake each had one RBI. Jake Walters (L, 0-3) took a tough-luck loss for the Jumbo Shrimp, yielding one run over 5.0 innings.

Noteworthy: The shutout was Gwinnett’s seventh this season, first since a 4-0 win in seven innings at Charlotte on August 12. Vaughn Grissom drew three walks and extended his on-base streak to 43 games (second-longest in the International League this season) but went 0-for-1 to snap his team-best 14-game hitting streak. Atlanta Braves’ infielder Ehire Adrianza went 0-for-3 in his third rehab game.

Next Game (Saturday, September 16**):** Gwinnett at Jacksonville, doubleheader at 5:05 p.m. at 121 Financial Ballpark. Broadcast: 4:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com.

Next Home Game (Tuesday, September 19): Gwinnett vs. Durham, 7:05 p.m. at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. It’s Family Value Tuesday (presented by Coolray Heating & Cooling), with $2 hot dogs and $1 desserts.