Jungmann's eight strong not enough in walk-off loss
MOBILE, AL. - The Biloxi Shuckers could not come up with the big hit in Wednesday night's contest against the Mobile BayBears, falling in walk-off fashion, 2-1, at Hank Aaron Stadium. Biloxi left seven men on base, and finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The Shuckers lost despite eight innings of one-run baseball from Taylor Jungmann.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Kevin Medrano against reliever Stephen Peterson (8-3), and advanced to second on a wild-pitch third strike to Evan Marzilli to put the winning run in scoring position. An intentional walk to Domingo Leyba brought up Chuck Taylor, who singled to left. Medrano was sent home on the play, but was gunned out at home by Johnny Davis, with Leyba moving over to third.
Shuckers' manager Mike Guerrero called upon sidearmer Tyler Spurlin to face off against Kevin Cron with runners at the corners and two outs, but the BayBears' first baseman singled through the hole on the left side to plate Leyba for the winning run and hand Biloxi its fourth walk-off loss of the season.
Mobile (18-14, 50-52) grabbed the first run of the game after the Arizona Diamondbacks' No. 5 prospect Leyba tripled to center with one out and came home on Kron's run-scoring single on a grounder up the middle.
Biloxi (12-20, 51-50) stranded two runners in scoring position in the third, but Javier Betancourt (1x2, HR, RBI, R, BB) made up for the missed opportunity by cranking his fourth home run of the year over the wall in right to knot the game at one apiece in the fourth. The solo shot extended the 21-year-old's hitting streak to 10 games after missing six contests with a hamstring injury.
Shuckers' starting pitcher, Taylor Jungmann, worked into a groove after allowing a run in the first. The former first-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers did not allow a hit through the next seven frames and faced the minimum, despite walking two batters and an error behind him. Wednesday's start was the 26-year-old's longest outing since tossing a nine-inning, complete-game shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 11, 2015.
Biloxi had a prime opportunity to pull ahead in the eighth after three consecutive singles by Davis (3x4, 2B, SB), Tyrone Taylor (1x4) and Brett Phillips (1x4) loaded the bases with nobody out. Dustin DeMuth (0x4) went down looking and Betancourt bounced into an inning-ending double play to end the Shuckers' threat.
Biloxi will head home to MGM Park for three games against Mobile to wrap up the five-game set starting Thursday night. LHP Wei-Chung Wang (5-5, 3.61) takes the mound for the Shuckers, while the BayBears will send out RHP Matt Koch (2-3, 4.92). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m., with coverage starting at 6:50 p.m. on the Biloxi Shuckers' Radio Network's flagship station WGCM 1240 AM, 100.9 FM, Pascagoula's WPMO 1580 AM and the TuneIn Radio app.
The Shuckers return to MGM Park tomorrow for the final three games of a five-game series against the Mobile BayBears. Thursday will be Christmas in July and Double Play Thursday plus a canned food drive for the Salvation Army. Friday the ZOOperstars! will make their way to MGM Park. Saturday will be another Fireworks Extravaganza, as Biloxi's night sky will light up for the 10th time this season. Fans can purchase tickets at biloxishuckers.com.
Tickets for individual regular season games are currently on-sale and may be purchased by visiting the MGM Park box office or any Ticketmaster outlet. Season Tickets, Shmini Plans, Group Tickets, Party Deck Tickets and Mercedes-Benz Mini Suite Tickets are available by calling the Shuckers at 228-233-3465. For more details, visit biloxishuckers.com.
About the Biloxi Shuckers:
The Biloxi Shuckers are the Double-A Affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and a member of the Southern League. For up-to-date news and notes throughout the offseason, visit biloxishuckers.com, follow the club on Twitter (@biloxishuckers), Instagram (@officialbiloxishuckers) or like the team on Facebook (facebook.com/biloxishuckers).