Late rally falls short in Saturday loss 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Troy Johnston and Victor Mesa Jr. tallied five hits, but the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp fell to the Durham Bulls 7-4 Saturday night at 121 Financial Ballpark in front of 6,922 fans.

Durham wasted no time getting on the board. Kameron Misner (7) cracked a leadoff home run to open the scoring for the Bulls. Two pitches later, Major League rehabber Taylor Walls singled. Fellow rehabber Josh Lowe laced a triple which scored Walls from first. Curtis Mead rolled a ground ball and scored Lowe to extend Bulls lead to 3-0.

Jacksonville’s bats backed up starter Munoz in the bottom of the first. Mesa Jr. and Javier Sanoja roped back-to-back singles which put runners at first and second. Following a flyout, Johnston singled home Mesa Jr. to bring the score to 3-1.

After a scoreless second, Durham added their fourth run in the third. Walls tripled to right field. An errant throw from Sanoja that deflected off Walls and went into the dugout, allowed Walls to score from third.

Leading 4-1 late in the game, Durham’s (25-31) offense awoke in the seventh. Austin Shenton singled to start the inning. Rene Pinto (6) clubbed a two-run home run to extend the Bulls lead to 6-1. Two batters later, Tristan Peters doubled off the wall. He scored a batter later on an RBI single from C.J. Hinojosa. Jacksonville (24-32) starter Roddery Munoz (L, 2-4) was replaced by right hander Angel Macuare who escaped the inning. Macuare tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless ball and struck out four of the eight hitters he faced which kept the Jumbo Shrimp within reach.

Trailing 7-1, Mesa Jr. (9) led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run to cut the deficit to five.

Jacksonville continued to fight until the final out. Jonah Bride doubled to start the ninth. Tristan Gray followed with an RBI double, scoring Bride to cut the deficit to 7-3. Two batters later, Griffin Conine continued his hot hitting with an RBI single. Durham reliever Joe Record escaped the ninth and secured the Bull’s first series win of the 2024 season.

Jacksonville and Durham continue the series Saturday at 3:05 p.m. from 121 Financial Ballpark. RHP Shaun Anderson 0-0, 0.00) will make his first start for Jacksonville and Durham countered with RHP Shane Baz (0-3, 7.71). Coverage begins at 2:50 p.m. on Bally Live, MLB.tv, MiLB.tv, ESPN 690, and espn690.com.

Gates open at 2 p.m. for Sunday Family FUNday. Thanks to Baptist Health, the Jumbo Shrimp will host pre-game catch on the field for the first 20 minutes after gates open. Kids can also feel like the pros after each Sunday game by rounding the bases once the field is clear.

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.