Four-run Rochester fifth sinks Jumbo Shrimp

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp dropped their second straight game to open the 2026 season 6-3 against the Rochester Red Wings Saturday night at VyStar Ballpark in front of 6,595 fans.

Trailing 6-1, Jacksonville (0-2) cut the deficit but couldn’t overcome a five-run deficit in the ninth. Kemp Alderman and Nathan Martorella drew consecutive walks to start the inning. Jesús Bastidas followed with an RBI single, cutting the deficit to four. Two batters later, Matthew Etzel grounded out, scoring Martorella to make it a 6-3 game.

Jumbo Shrimp starting pitcher Bradley Blalock tossed four scoreless innings while striking out three and conceding one hit and two walks in his Miami Marlins organizational debut.

The Jumbo Shrimp opened scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning following a one-out walk by Alderman, who was brought around by a Martorella double to right-center field.

The Red Wings (2-0) bats went to work one half inning later and plated four runs in the top of the fifth against Jacksonville reliever Dax Fulton (L, 0-1). Phillip Glasser led off the frame with a single and came around to score on a double from Zack Short. Fulton responded with a pair of outs before intentionally walking Dylan Crews and yielding a two-run double to Abimelec Ortiz. Zach McCambley replaced Fulton on the mound and gave up an RBI single to Robert Hassell III to push Rochester’s lead to 4-1.

Rochester pushed across another run in the seventh against Jumbo Shrimp bullpen arm Josh Ekness. Christian Franklin reached on an error by Jacksonville third baseman Jacob Berry and came around to score on an RBI single by Rochester right fielder Dylan Crews pushing the lead to 5-1.

The Red Wings added one final insurance run in the ninth inning while showing off their patience against Jumbo Shrimp reliever Josh White. Harry Ford, Crews and Hassell III walked to load the bases for Yohandy Morales, who drew the fourth walk of the inning to bring the score to 6-1.

The series concludes Sunday in Jacksonville with a 2:05 p.m. first pitch. Jumbo Shrimp left-hander Braxton Garrett (0-0, 0.00) starts on the mound opposite Rochester right-hander Luis Perales (0-0, 0.00). It will be Garrett’s first professional appearance since June 17, 2024, as he returns from Tommy John surgery.

Coverage begins at 1:50 p.m. on Bally Live, MLB.tv, and MiLB.tv.

ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins and compete in the International League. The 2025 International League and Triple-A National Champions, the Jumbo Shrimp call VyStar 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.