JACKSONVILLE (SportsTicker) – Ryan Weathers dominated over 5.0 shutout innings and Jake Mangum drove in three runs in the finale of Saturday’s doubleheader as the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp split a twinbill with the Gwinnett Stripers, falling 5-3 before winning 6-0 in front of 9,786 fans at 121 Financial Ballpark.
Gwinnett (68-74, 35-32) starter Beau Burrows (3-5) hit Mangum with a pitch to begin the bottom of the first in the finale. Jacob Amaya followed with a single and Troy Johnston walked to load the bases. Peyton Burdick cashed in the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly. Two batters later, Jordan Groshans registered an RBI single to make it 2-0 Jacksonville (69-74, 37-32).
That turned out to be more than enough for Weathers (4-0), who scattered a pair of hits and a walk against six strikeouts in his 5.0 innings. José Castillo fanned two in a perfect sixth and Austin Roberts pitched a shutout seventh to seal the fourth shutout of the season for the Jumbo Shrimp.
With the same score in the fourth, Groshans walked. Two batters later, C.J. Hinojosa added a single. After a pop out, Mangum added to the lead with an RBI single.
In the fifth, Burdick walked and stole second with one out. Following a strikeout, Groshans brought him home with another RBI base knock.
Jacksonville added to its lead one more time in the sixth. Hinojosa began the frame with a double before Brian Miller walked. Both runners scored on Mangum’s double to set the final margin at 6-0.
The opener of the twinbill was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Burdick went yard.
However, in the top of the sixth, the Stripers were able to tie. Ehire Adrianza singled and Vaughn Grissom walked to begin the inning. After a strikeout, Dalton Guthrie singled to load the bases. Chadwick Tromp lined out to left, but Yolmer Sánchez walked with the bases loaded to tie the contest.
The score remained deadlocked until the eighth. Justin Dean started as the zombie runner at second base for Gwinnett. He moved to third on a passed ball and scored two batters later on Joe Dunand’s RBI single.
The Jumbo Shrimp rallied to tie in the bottom of the inning. A fielder’s choice put a man on first to start the inning before Austin Allen walked. After another fielder’s choice, Amaya drew a free pass. A wild pitch then scored Hinojosa to knot the score.
The Stripers blew it open in the ninth. After a fly out, the zombie runner, Tromp, scored on an RBI double by Hoy Park. Joshua Fuentes and Andrew Velazquez each drew a walk. Following a strikeout, Grissom drove in the pair with a base hit to make it 5-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, a Jorge Alfaro singled to advance the zombie runner Troy Johnston to third. Burdick notched an RBI single to draw Jacksonville within 5-3, but the club could get no closer.
(SportsDay photo by Nancy DeLander Beecher/Florida Sports Wire)
