JACKSONVILLE, FL - For the second-straight night a Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (27-20, 56-61) starting pitcher struck out 13 batters and the homestanding Shrimp held on Friday night for a 2-1 win over the Mississippi Braves (23-24, 56-60) at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
JACKSONVILLE, FL - For the second-straight night a Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (27-20, 56-61) starting pitcher struck out 13 batters and the homestanding Shrimp held on Friday night for a 2-1 win over the Mississippi Braves (23-24, 56-60) at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
Marlins No. 17 prospect Jorge Guzman (6-10) struck out 13 M-Braves over 6.0 no-hit innings and four Jacksonville pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts in Friday's game.
The M-Braves tallied their first hit against Jacksonville with two outs in the seventh inning on a line-drive single to right field by Connor Lien . Mississippi threatened a few times against Guzman, taking advantage of his four walks, including three of them in the fourth inning. Ray-Patrick Didder walked twice on Friday night and stole three bases, pushing his season total to 23. He is 15-for-16 in stolen base opportunities in the second half of the season. Didder was stranded at third base when the sacks were left loaded in the fourth.
Jacksonville touched the scoreboard first in the second inning on a solo home run by Bryson Brigman, which sailed just beyond the reach of M-Braves left fielder Greyson Jenista . They Shrimp added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI ground out by Justin Twine.
The two runs were all that Mississippi starter Phil Pfeifer (L, 1-2) gave up in his second Mississippi start. The 27-year-old Vanderbilt product ceded just two hits while striking out six and walking four over 5.0 innings and 92 pitches.
Kurt Hoekstra came on out of the bullpen behind Pfeifer and fired 2.0 shutout innings, striking out two. The converted position player has given up just one run over 10.1 innings and five outings with ten strikeouts and no walks. Jason Creasy dealt a scoreless inning in the eighth to keep the score at 2-0.
With one out in the top of the ninth, Jenista cracked a Tommy Eveld (S, 5) fastball 408 feet over the right-field wall for a solo home run, cutting the Jacksonville lead in half. Eveld went on to retire the next two batters and finish of the Shrimp's second-straight win.
The M-Braves try to end the two-game slide on Saturday night in Jacksonville. RHP Nolan Kingham (0-1, 1.80) will make his second Mississippi start and face off against Marlins top pitching prospect RHP Sixto Sanchez (8-4, 2.76). First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 pm CT with coverage beginning at 5:20 pm on 103.9 WYAB, TuneIn Radio, First Pitch App, and MiLB.tv (subscription required).
The M-Braves will return to Trustmark Park for an 11-game homestand in ten days against the Birmingham Barons and Pensacola Blue Wahoos. The homestand features Clunker Car Night and Thirsty Thursday on Aug.15, Austin Riley Kids T-Shirt Giveaway, and Post-Game Fireworks on Friday, Aug. 16 and another Post-Game Fireworks Show and Princess Night on Saturday, Aug. 17.
