Jacksonville sweeps doubleheader with Norfolk

NORFOLK, Va. – The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp swept their doubleheader with the Norfolk Tides 4-3 and 5-1 at Harbor Park Friday night for their seventh win in their last eight games.

Jacksonville (49-50, 14-10) opened the scoring right away in the top of the first in game one. Victor Mesa Jr. drew a leadoff walk. Three batters later, Griffin Conine walked and Will Banfield singled to load the bases. Tristan Gray smacked a bases-clearing double for the game’s first runs.

Norfolk (47-52, 11-13) slowly chipped away in the bottom of the first. Jackson Holliday started the frame with a leadoff double. Coby Mayo flied out in the next at-bat, allowing Holliday to advance to third. Kyle Stowers grounded out to first, allowing Holliday to score the Tides’ first run of the game.

The Tides drew within one in the bottom of the third. With one out, Mayo doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Stowers notched his second RBI of the night with another groundout, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

The Jumbo Shrimp added to their lead in the top of the fifth. Javier Sanoja doubled with one out and scored on a base hit from Troy Johnston, increasing the lead to two.

Norfolk answered in the bottom of the fifth inning on Mayo’s 20th homer of the season, shrinking Jacksonville’s lead to one, 4-3.

Luarbert Arias and Elvis Alvarado managed to shut the door, combining for 3.0 scoreless frames with four strikeouts, while issuing just three hits to secure Jacksonville’s 4-3 win.

After a scoreless first inning, Jacksonville took the first and only lead of game two in the second frame. With one out, Jhonny Pereda and Griffin Conine drew consecutive walks. A single from José Devers, coupled with a fielding error, allowed Pereda and Conine to score, putting the Jumbo Shrimp ahead 2-0.

Jacksonville added to their lead in the top of the fourth. Pereda (3) led off the inning with a solo home run, increasing the advantage to three.

Norfolk was shut out until the bottom of the sixth. Billy Cook’s (11) solo homer was their only source of offense in game two.

The Jumbo Shrimp’s final runs came in the top of the seventh. Gray reached on a fielding error and went to third on a single from Devers. During the play, Devers advanced to second on the throw to third. With runners at second and third, Bennett Hostetlerreached on the second error of the inning, a throwing error that allowed both Gray and Devers to score, giving the Jumbo Shrimp a 5-1 advantage.

The Jumbo Shrimp continue their series with the Tides in Saturday’s 6:35 p.m. contest from Harbor Park. Jacksonville will hand the ball to RHP Adam Oller (2-1, 7.02 ERA) and Norfolk will counter with LHP Bruce Zimmermann (2-4, 4.44 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on ESPN 690 AM and 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.