Miller reaches base five times in 6-2 win
Lawrenceville, Ga. – The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp took the lead early and coupled that with a strong outing from Luis Madero, on their way to a 6-2 win at Coolray Field, Thursday.
Jacksonville (16-11) was led offensively by Brian Miller who reached base five times out of the leadoff spot, while Gwinnett (15-12) went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded ten men on base.
Jacksonville took the lead in the first inning. Miller opened the ballgame with a single to left field, and with two outs, Justin Twine lined an opposite field RBI single to right, in his first Jumbo Shrimp at-bat of the season.
Madero (win, 4-1) used a strikeout-double-play to work around a pair of hits in the first inning. He stranded a pair of two-out singles in the second, and then really settled in in the middle innings, fanning six of the final 11 batters he faced. He finished with seven strikeouts in five scoreless innings.
After giving up the run in the first inning, Bryse Wilson (loss, 2-1) didn’t give up another hit to Jacksonville until the sixth, when Jacksonville batted around. Jesús Sánchez led off with a walk, and Twine then tripled into the right field corner to score him. Lewin Díaz followed by slapping a single opposite the shift to score Twine and make it 3-0. Corey Bird capped the scoring with a triple to right-center plating Twine. Bird would come into score on the play as well due to an overthrow to third base, pushing the advantage to 5-0.
The Bird hit chased Wilson from the contest as he gave up five runs on six hits in five innings, and suffered his first loss in his last ten starts for the Stripers, dating back to 2019. The Shrimp sent nine men to the plate in the sixth inning, with the first six reaching base, and scored four times.
Gwinnett’s only offense of the ballgame came in the seventh, when Ryan Casteel hit a pinch hit two-run home run off of Rob Zastryzny, scoring Travis Snider who led off the inning with a single.
Jacksonville got one of the runs right back in the eighth, as Miller lined a two-out single to center to score Santiago Chavez, who reached on a bunt single earlier in the frame, putting the Shrimp in front, 6-2.
Steven Okert and Brett Eibner combined to work the final 2.2 scoreless out of the bullpen, striking out three, while allowing just one baserunner.
Left-hander Braxton Garrett (2-1, 4.12) will make the start in game four on Friday night for Jacksonville, as the two teams square off at 7:05 p.m. The broadcast will begin at 6:50 p.m. on ESPN 690, and online at espn690.com, MiLB.tv, and the MiLB First Pitch app. 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 marks 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.
