Bulls pull away late from Jumbo Shrimp

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – C.J. Hinojosa finished a homer shy of the cycle and drove in three, but the Durham Bulls were able to pull away and spoil the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp’s home opener with a 14-8 win in front of 6,382 fans from 121 Financial Ballpark.

After four consecutive scoreless innings and 14 straight batters retired, Durham (1-3) plated runs in each of the final three innings to take command of the game. The Bulls put up a five-spot in the seventh, three in the eighth and capped things off by tallying one in the ninth.

For the Jumbo Shrimp (2-2), they plated runs in four of the first five innings to jump out to a three-run lead. Jacksonville’s bats went quiet for the back half of the game, as they were held scoreless for the remaining four innings of the game.

With the Jumbo Shrimp ahead 8-5, Jumbo Shrimp reliever Josh Simpson (0-1) struck out Ruben Cardenas to begin the seventh before walking Vidal Brujan. After a base hit and another free pass, the bases were loaded for René Pinto, who smacked an RBI single. Osleivis Basabe followed by knotting the score with a two-run base hit of his own, and the Bulls gained the advantage on an RBI fielder’s choice one batter later. After a base hit, Ben Gamel doubled home another run to make it 10-8.

In the eighth, the Bulls added to their lead. Back-to-back hits by Brujan and Curtis Mead and then a walk by Jonathon Aranda loaded the bases with nobody out. Pinto cashed in with a run off a sacrifice fly, an error brought in another and Tristian Gray’s RBI single gave Durham a 13-8 advantage. In the ninth, Mead lifted a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring at 14-8.

The 14 runs allowed by Jacksonville marks the most runs the club surrendered in a single game since yielding 14 on August 15, 2021 against Charlotte.

The Bulls otok the lead in their first at-bats. Brujan doubled on the first pitch of the game and scored two batters later on an Aranda RBI single.

The Jumbo Shrimp responded right away. Xavier Edwards singled and reached second on an error, then moved to third on a wild pitch. Hinojosa notched an RBI single to get the Jumbo Shrimp on the board. Later in the inning, Peyton Burdick doubled in a pair to give Jacksonville their first lead.

Durham regained the lead in the second with a Brujan RBI single and an Aranda three-run home run.

In the bottom of the second, though, the Jumbo Shrimp tied the score at five on an error and RBI groundout.

The score remained leveled until the fourth. Brian Miller hit a one-out single and Edwards drew a free pass. Hinojosa plated both runners with a triple as Jacksonville got out in front again.

An inning later, Burdick doubled and stole third. Jacob Amaya then scored Burdick on a sacrifice fly to make it 8-5.

Jacksonville and Durham meet on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on ESPN 690, espn690.com, Bally Live and MiLB.tv.

Wednesday’s contest is Good is Everywhere Wednesdays presented by VyStar. VyStar Credit Union members can enjoy a buy-one, get one free ticket special by using their VyStar credit or debit card at the box office. Habijax will raise awareness and funds throughout the night through ticket sales and promotions.

ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp offer affordable family fun at 121 Financial Ballpark. Their inaugural season garnered the Southern League’s Don Mincher Organization of the Year, Promotional Trophy and Jimmy Bragan Executive of the Year, won by general manager Harold Craw. The club added its second Promotional Trophy in three years following the 2019 season. The 2021 season marked the return of Triple-A baseball in Jacksonville. To experience the excitement with the terrific value of ticket and group options, call the Jumbo Shrimp at (904) 358-2846 or visit www.jaxshrimp.com.