Bullpen, four-run seventh lead Shrimp by WooSox

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Jumbo Shrimp bullpen tossed 6.0 scoreless innings and Jacksonville scored four runs in the seventh on Friday to vault over the Worcester Red Sox 9-3 at Polar Park.

Worcester (62-61, 21-28) led 3-2 when WooSox reliever David Sandlin (2-2) hit Johnny Olmstead with a pitch with one out in the seventh. After Cody Morissette singled, Brian Navarreto walked to load the bases. Shane Sasaki followed with an RBI single to tie the game. Matthew Etzel followed with a two-run base hit to put Jacksonville (75-48, 28-20) ahead. Jacob Berry’s RBI single put the score at 6-3.

The Jumbo Shrimp added to their lead in the ninth. Morissette led off with a double before stealing third. After a walk to Navarreto, an error on a pickoff attempt scored Morissette. Sasaki walked and Etzel followed with a single, his third hit of the game. An RBI ground out from Berry and a Jack Winkler sacrifice fly set the final margin at 9-3.

Josh White, Matt Pushard, William Kempner (1-0), Christian Roa and Freddy Tarnok combined for 6.0 shutout innings out of the bullpen, yielding just two hits. Tarnok picked up his fourth save.

Etzel started the game with a double before advancing to third on a ground out and scoring on a wild pitch from Payton Tolle, who retired the next 15 Jumbo Shrimp to come to the plate.

Nick Sogard led off the bottom of the first with a home run to tie the game. In the second, Chadwick Tromp began the inning with a single. He advanced to second on a fly out and scored two batters later on an RBI single from Max Ferguson to give Worcester their first lead at 2-1.

The Red Sox added to their advantage in the third. Mikey Romero doubled with one out. He scored two batters later on a Nathan Hickey single to make it 3-1.

The score remained that way until the sixth. With Tolle out of the game, Justin Slaten ceded a one-out single to Sasaki. An error put runners on the corners. After a stolen base, Sasaki scored on a wild pitch to draw the Jumbo Shrimp within 3-2.

Jacksonville aims for a series win in Saturday’s 4:05 p.m. contest. RHP Morgan McSweeney (3-0, 1.60 ERA) starts for the Jumbo Shrimp against WooSox RHP Tyler Uberstine (2-3, 3.78 ERA). Coverage begins at 3:50 p.m. on ESPN 690AM and www.ESPN690.com.

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.