BILOXI, Miss. - The Jackson Generals, the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, moved within one game of a championship on Friday with a 12-7 victory over the Biloxi Shuckers at MGM Park.
BILOXI, Miss. - The Jackson Generals, the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, moved within one game of a championship on Friday with a 12-7 victory over the Biloxi Shuckers at MGM Park.
The Generals (2-1) need one more win in the BC Powder ® Southern League Championship Series in order to take down Biloxi (1-2) for the league title.
Entering Friday, Justin Donatella (1-0, 3.00 ERA) had pitched 21.0 consecutive scoreless innings, and he continued his late-year success by tossing six more shutout frames against the South Division champions, holding Biloxi without a run until the seventh inning. Donatella retired 18 men on 98 pitches, departing with two men on base and the Generals ahead 8-0 in his sixth consecutive quality start. The 23-year-old escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second inning and worked through a two-on, no-outs pickle in the fifth inning, demonstrating pinpoint command to both sides of the plate. When Donatella finally exited, Jared Miller, Bud Jeter, and Sam Lewis came on to lock down the Game 3 win.
Offensively, the Generals sprang for five runs in the third inning, knocking out Biloxi right-hander Thomas Jankins (0-1, 15.00 ERA) after 63 pitches. The inning turned on a three-run blast off the scoreboard by Jackson second baseman Domingo Leyba, his second postseason home run in 2018. First baseman Rudy Flores followed immediately with a solo home run to right-center, launching his first dinger of the playoffs to put Jackson on top 5-0. A four-run eighth inning gave Jackson added breathing room in the late stages of the contest, as Leyba finished 4-for-6 with a quartet of RBI and a run scored, notching his 14th playoff hit in the process. Dominic Miroglio and Galli Cribbs Jr. each added two-hit nights for Jackson, as Shelley Duncan and the West Tennessee crew piled up seven or more runs for the fourth time in their last five games.
With a championship on the line for the first time as a Diamondbacks affiliate, the Generals with throw right-hander Emilio Vargas on Saturday night against Biloxi's Trey Supak. Coverage of Game 4 will be featured on MILB.TV as well as the Jackson Generals Baseball Network via TuneIn Radio, with a link provided at the bottom of this article. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm CT.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
BEST-OF-FIVE FORMAT | Generals lead, 2-1
Saturday, September 15 | 6:35 pm CT
The Ballpark at Jackson - Jackson, Tenn.
RHP Emilio Vargas (0-1, 16.20 ERA) vs. RHP Trey Supak (0-0, 3.00 ERA)
Broadcast Link: Jackson Generals Baseball Network
The Jackson Generals, a West Tennessee franchise since 1998, are the Double-A minor league affiliate of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2017, The Ballpark at Jackson was named the Professional Sports Field of the Year by the Tennessee Turfgrass Association.
