JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wire) – The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp claimed their first home victory of the season against the Durham Bulls 4-3 in a walk-off thriller from 121 Financial Ballpark in front of 7,742 fans.
With the score tied at three, Jake Mangum led off the ninth with a base hit to left off Durham (3-4) reliever Heath Hembree (0-1) and advanced to scoring position with a stolen base. Xavier Edwards followed with a single of his own to right, putting runners on the corners with no outs.
C.J. Hinojosa then hit a high fly ball to left field that was just deep enough to bring in Mangum from third and give Jacksonville (3-4) the 4-3 win.
The Jumbo Shrimp drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning. Edwards reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. One batter later, Jerar Encarnacion sliced a base hit to right field to put Jacksonville an early 1-0 lead.
Durham put up a three-spot in the third inning to regain the lead. Nick Dini (2) led the inning off with a solo blast over the left-field wall. Back-to-back singles by Niko Hulsizer and Vidal Brujan put runners on first and second with one down.
Curtis Mead doubled to center field to put Durham ahead 3-1. Despite having the bases loaded with one down, the Jumbo Shrimp were able to limit the third-inning damage with a tailor-made 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.
In the fourth inning, Jacob Amaya slapped a one-out single to left field. Alex De Goti (1) followed up with his first hit of the season, a two-run shot to knot up the game at three.
Zack Leban, after issuing three consecutive free passes to load the bases for Durham, battled back and struck out the next three batters he faced to keep the contest locked up at three in the fifth.
Jacksonville and Durham continue their series Saturday at 6:35 p.m. LHP Devin Smeltzer (0-0, 9.00) starts for the Jumbo Shrimp against Bulls RHP Luis Patino (0-1, 9.00).
