Jacksonville’s Eight-Run Frame Buries Stripers in 9-1 Rout

Eddys Leonard homers to extend hit streak to nine, but Gwinnett loses fourth straight

Craig Kimbrel has retired all six batters he's faced over two outings with Gwinnett this week. (Wyatt Lucovsky / Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp)

By Dave Lezotte (@davelezotte)

April 24, 2025

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (18-6) rode an eight-run third inning to a 9-1 rout of the Gwinnett Stripers (10-13) on Thursday night at VyStar Ballpark. Eddys Leonard ended the shutout with a solo home run in the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel struck out one in a scoreless

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (18-6) rode an eight-run third inning to a 9-1 rout of the Gwinnett Stripers (10-13) on Thursday night at VyStar Ballpark. Eddys Leonard ended the shutout with a solo home run in the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel struck out one in a scoreless eighth inning for the Stripers.

Decisive Plays: Jacksonville batted around and then some in the third inning highlighted by a two-run double from Troy Johnston, RBI doubles from Albert Almora Jr. and Brian Navarreto, and RBI singles from Jack Winkler and Jakob Marsee. Down 9-0 in the eighth, Leonard ended the shutout bid with a 433-foot solo home run (5) off the video board in left-center to make it 9-1.

Key Contributors: Leonard (1-for-3, homer, RBI) had one of just three hits for Gwinnett on the night. Kimbrel retired all three batters he faced in the eighth and struck out Marsee for his first Gwinnett punch-out since September 6, 2010. Domingo Gonzalez and Dylan Covey also threw scoreless innings in relief. Former Striper Freddy Tarnok (W, 2-0) pitched 5.0 scoreless innings for Jacksonville. Johnston (1-for-4, double, 2 RBIs) and Heriberto Hernandez (1-for-2, homer, 2 RBIs) had multi-RBI efforts.

Noteworthy: Leonard extended his team-best hitting streak to nine games with the homer, his team-leading fifth. He has the three longest home runs hit by a Striper this year. Garrett Cooper saw his 12-game on-base streak snapped as he went 0-for-3. Kimbrel has faced six batters and retired them all over the last two games.=

Next Game (Friday, April 25): Gwinnett at Jacksonville, 7:05 p.m. at Vystar Ballpark. RHP Hurston Waldrep (2-0, 6.62 ERA) for the Stripers against RHP Adam Mazur (1-1, 1.86 ERA) for the Jumbo Shrimp. Radio Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com.

Next Home Game (Tuesday, April 29): Gwinnett vs. Nashville (Triple-A, Milwaukee Brewers), 7:05 p.m. at Coolray Field. The Stripers will transform into the Atlanta Black Crackers, paying tribute to the legendary Negro League team. The first 500 fans will receive an Atlanta Black Crackers “Shirsey” courtesy of Coolray Heating & Cooling for T-Shirt Tuesday (size XL only). Radio Broadcast: 10:50 a.m. on MyCountry993.com.