Gwinnett clips Jacksonville on walk-off homer

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Jacksonville plated three runs in the seventh to take a late lead, but Ryan Casteel’s walk-off home run propelled the Gwinnett Stripers to a 7-6 victory over the Jumbo Shrimp from Coolray Field.

The Jumbo Shrimp (42-48, 7-8) led 6-5 when George Soriano (0-2) walked J.P. Martinez to begin the ninth inning. Two batters later, Casteel deposited a ball beyond the left field wall to give the Stripers (43-48, 8-8) a 7-6 victory.

For the fourth game in a row, Jacksonville scored first. Jhonny Pereda jumpstarted the second with a double. After a strikeout and Will Banfield single, Tristan Gray’s sacrifice fly made it 1-0.

Martinez reached on an error with one out in the third. A Forrest Wall walk and Nacho Alvarez Jr. hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Luke Williams, who socked a grand slam to give Gwinnett its first lead of the game at 4-1.

The Jumbo Shrimp chipped away in the fourth. Banfield singled with one out and advanced to second on a ground out. He scored on an RBI single by José Devers. Jonathan Davis followed with an RBI double to pull Jacksonville within one.

The score remained that way until the seventh. An infield single coupled with an error placed Javier Sanoja on second to begin the inning. Two batters later, Troy Johnston’s RBI double tied the game. Following a Pereda walk, Griffin Conine lasered an RBI single to right to put the Jumbo Shrimp in front. A Banfield sacrifice fly made it 6-4.

More walks helped the Stripers pick up a critical run in the bottom of the seventh. Martinez drew a leadoff free pass. After a ground out, Casteel walked. Two batters later, Luis Liberato registered an RBI base hit to cut the Jacksonville lead to 6-5.

Jacksonville and Gwinnett meet again in Saturday’s 6:05 p.m. contest. RHP Darren McCaughan (4-2, 5.50 ERA) starts for the Jumbo Shrimp against Stripers RHP Bryce Elder (5-3, 4.35 ERA). Coverage begins at 5:50 p.m. on ESPN 690 AM 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 team calls 121 Financial 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.