Special to Jacksonville Sports News/Photos by Jim Brady
JACKSONVILLE (www.jaxsportsday.com) – The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp defeated the Memphis Redbirds 10-1 in a seven-inning rain shortened contest Sunday afternoon at VyStar Ballpark.
Jacksonville (54-52, 12-20) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Andrew Pintar led off the bottom of the first with a single, then stole second. In the ensuing at-bat, Connor Norby’s singled, plating Pintar from second for a 1-0 lead.
The Jumbo Shrimp broke the game open in the bottom of the second. Agustín Ramírez started things with a single and Matthew Etzel walked to put two runners on. A double steal coupled with a walk to Johnny Olmstead loaded the bases. Maximo Acosta ripped a single scoring Ramírez, pushing the lead to 2-0. Etzel was thrown out trying to score, which allowed Olmstead and Acosta to advance to second and third. Pintar followed with a single plating both Olmstead and Acosta. Norby capped the rally with a double bringing Pintar home, increasing the advantage to 5-0.
Jacksonville tacked on more in the bottom of the fourth. Norby drew a walk to open the inning and Deyvison De Los Santos (13) followed with a two-run homer pushing the lead to 7-0.
The Jumbo Shrimp kept the pressure on in the bottom of the fifth. Etzel singled and Olmstead (7) blasted a two-run homer giving Jacksonville a nine-run advantage. Two batters later Jared Serna singled and scored on Pintar’s single.
Memphis (60-48, 13-20) got on the board in the sixth. Victor Scott II reached on a Kemp Alderman throwing error and a Joshua Báez double put runners on second and third. Nolan Gorman and Leo Bernal drew consecutive walks, cutting the deficit to 10-1.
Serna opened the bottom of the seventh for Jacksonville with a walk. Norby was hit by a pitch just two batters later. The game went into a rain delay right after and never resumed, sealing Jacksonville’s 10-1 win and series win over Memphis.
Following an off day on Monday, Jacksonville hits the road and begins a six-game series with the Gwinnett Stripers that begins Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on ESPN 690 and espn690.com.
