Jacksonville falls to Durham in series opener

Encarnacion homers in his first Triple-A game

Jake Fishman struck out six Bulls over 2.2 innings of relief in Tuesday's loss to Durham. (Joey Mims/Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp)

By Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

May 17, 2022

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jerar Encarnacion launched his first Triple-A home run, but the Durham Bulls beat out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 8-4 in the series opener on Tuesday at 121 Financial Ballpark. In the second inning, Durham (17-20) took a four-run lead against Jacksonville (20-17) and ran with it. René

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jerar Encarnacion launched his first Triple-A home run, but the Durham Bulls beat out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 8-4 in the series opener on Tuesday at 121 Financial Ballpark.

In the second inning, Durham (17-20) took a four-run lead against Jacksonville (20-17) and ran with it. René Pinto led off with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Ford Proctor. With runners at first and second, Ryan Boldt singled to load the bases and Jim Haley plated two runs on a double off Jumbo Shrimp starter Max Meyer (2-2), giving Durham a 2-0 advantage. Boldt advanced to third on the double and scored on a groundout by Ruben Cardenas, pushing the lead to 3-0. Tristan Gray singled, scoring Haley from third for the 4-0 lead.

From there, Durham blew the game open with four more runs in the fourth inning. Proctor started the frame with a walk, and two batters later, Haley singled, putting runners on first and second., Both scored on a two-run triple by Cardenas. With Cardenas at third, Gray blasted a two-run home run, giving Durham an 8-0 advantage.

Despite the Durham lead, Jacksonville managed to gets some runs on the board in the eighth inning. With one out, Nick Fortes doubled. Encarnacion (1) then drilled a home run for the Jumbo Shrimp, putting them on the board 8-2. JJ Bleday followed with a walk and advanced to third on a single by Peyton Burdick in the ensuing at-bat. Bleday scored on a wild pitch and Burdick moved up to second. Willians Astudillo singled, allowing Burdick to score the Jumbo Shrimp’s fourth run of the game.

Jake Fishman fanned six batters in 2.2 perfect innings out of the bullpen.

Jacksonville continues their series with Durham Wednesday with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. RHP Bryan Hoeing (2-0, 4.15) gets the ball for the Jumbo Shrimp and Durham will counter with LHP Josh Fleming (1-0, 1.80). Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on ESPN 690, ESPN690.com, and MiLB.tv.

Gates open at 6 p.m., and the first 500 fans will receive a commemorative t-shirt celebrating the Surf & Turf Series between the Jumbo Shrimp and Bulls. On a VyStar Good Is Everywhere Wednesday, fans can get buy-one, get-one tickets at the Miller Electric Box Office when using their VyStar credit or debit card.

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 marked 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.