Seven-run sixth sinks Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After five strong innings, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp surrendered seven runs on seven hits in the top of the sixth inning and the Durham Bulls went on to win 7-1 Friday night at VyStar Ballpark in front of 6,359 fans.

Locked in a scoreless tie through five innings, the Durham Bulls (34-27) exploded in the top of the sixth and put seven runs on the board. Tristan Peters led off with a double. In the ensuing at bat, Carson Williams was hit by a pitch. A couple of wild pitches pushed Peters to third and eventually home, scoring the first run for the Bulls. Coco Montes knocked in Williams with an RBI single. Jamie Westbrook followed with a double, advancing Montes to third. Kenny Piper’s RBI single brought in Montes and Westbrook, pushing the lead to four. Chandler Simpson’s bunt single, made him the sixth consecutive batter to reach to start the inning. Two batters later, Bob Seymour singled home Piper and pushed Simpson to third, giving the Bulls a five-run advantage. Following a strikeout, Peters doubled for the second time in the inning plating two to give Durham a 7-0 lead.

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (36-25) chipped away in the eighth inning scoring their first run. With one out, Jacob Berry singled and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Two batters later, Matt Mervis singled and Berry scored, making it 7-1.

Jacksonville and Durham continue their series in Saturday’s 6:35 p.m. contest. The Jumbo Shrimp will hand the ball to RHP Freddy Tarnok (2-2, 5.45 ERA) and the Bulls will counter with RHP Joe Boyle (4-4, 1.69 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on Bally Live, MLB.tv, MiLB.tv, ESPN 690 and espn690.com.

Gates open at 5:30p.m. to begin Red Caps Negro League Weekend. The Jumbo Shrimp will take the field as the Jax Red Caps presented by Florida Blue. The first 2,000 people through the Main Gate on Georgia St. will go home with a Red Caps button-up shirt. Stick around after the game for Saturday Night Fireworks presented by Florida Blue.

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 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.