Suns spin 4-0 season finale shutout of BayBears

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville Suns right-hander Patrick Johnson set a club season high with a career-best 11 strikeouts in six scoreless innings, and three relievers combined on a four-hit shutout in a 4-0 season finale win over the Mobile BayBears in front of 4,108 at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville Monday afternoon.

Johnson (8-7) struck out five of the first six batters of the game before allowing a baserunner. He scattered three hits without walking a batter in six innings, as Mobile never put the tying run on base after the Suns (33-36 second half, 63-76 overall) took a first-inning lead. Johnson finished the season with a team-high 128 1/3 innings. His team-high 113 strikeouts ranked sixth in the Southern League, and his team-best 3.37 ERA ranked seventh.

The Suns took the lead against BayBears right-hander John Omahen in the bottom of the first inning. Suns left fielder Austin Dean chopped a one-out single down the first-base line. Right fielder Alex Glenn grounded to first baseman Kevin Cron, whose errant fielder's choice throw to second base allowed Dean to reach second base safely. A passed ball by catcher Oscar Hernandez moved both runners into scoring position, and third baseman Brian Anderson hit a sacrifice fly before first baseman Chris Curley's two-out RBI single made it 2-0. Omahen allowed one hit for the rest of his five innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and no walks with three strikeouts for Mobile (33-35, 65-73).

The Suns extended the lead in the sixth inning against left-hander Austin Wright. Center fielder Kenny Wilson singled to center field and scored on Dean's RBI double to left-center field. Glenn's groundout and Anderson's second sacrifice fly of the game scored Dean to make it 4-0.

After Johnson, right-handers Esmerling De La Rosa, Matt Ramsey and Tayron Guerrero each pitched a scoreless inning to complete Jacksonville's ninth shutout of the season and a three-games-to-one final series victory over Mobile. Jacksonville pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts, while BayBears pitchers struck out six. There were no walks in the game.

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