Four-run first pushes Jacksonville past Memphis 5-2

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thanks to a four-run first inning the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp took a wire-to-wire victory over the Memphis Redbirds 5-2 Wednesday afternoon at AutoZone Park.

Jacksonville (14-9) got off to a hot start early against Memphis (10-12) starter Adam Kloffenstein (0-3). Jonathan Davis walked to lead off the game but was thrown out at second as Victor Mesa Jr. reached on a fielder’s choice. Jonah Bride drove in Mesa Jr. with a double putting the Jumbo Shrimp ahead 1-0. Troy Johnston followed with a single and with runners at the corners, Dane Myers singled home Bride increasing the lead to two. With runners on first and second, a wild pitch put Johnston at third and Myers at second. Tristan Gray drove both runners in with a double pushing the advantage to 4-0.

The Redbirds cut the deficit in half in the fourth. Thomas Saggese led off with a double and two batters later went to third on a base hit from Alfonso Rivas. With runners at the corners, Luken Baker drove in Saggese with a base hit putting Memphis on the board. Rivas went to third on the single and scored on a sac fly from Matt Koperniak cutting into the Jacksonville lead, 4-2.

The Jumbo Shrimp’s final tally came in the top of the eighth. Griffin Conine and Javier Sanoja knocked back-to-back singles. Conine advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a sac fly from Mesa Jr. giving Jacksonville a three-run advantage, 5-2.

Darren McCaughan (W, 1-2) spun five innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with four walks. George Soriano, Eli Villalobos and Luarbert Arias (S, 2) combined for four scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk against two strikeouts.

Jacksonville and Memphis continue their series Thursday at 7:05 p.m. ET. RHP Roddery Muñoz (0-3, 10.97 ERA) gets the ball for Jacksonville and Memphis will counter with RHP Gordon Graceffo (2-2, 4.34 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. ET on ESPN 690 AM and espn690.com.

ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins and compete in the International League. The team calls 121 Financial Ballpark home for baseball but also a wide variety of additional community focused events with a goal of providing Affordable, Family, FUN to Northeast Florida. Winners of many marketing and sales awards and recognition since the team was rebranded prior to the 2017 season, the Jumbo Shrimp continually lead the state of Florida in attendance across all minor league professional sports organizations.