Jacksonville secures series victory against Clippers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp posted an excellent offensive performance highlighted by 15 hits, beating the Columbus Clippers 9-1 Friday night in front of 5,860 fans at VyStar Ballpark.

The Jumbo Shrimp (64-41, 17-13) scored first in the second inning. Joe Mack led off with a double and scored on Jacob Berry’s double. Dalvy Rosario and Harrison Spohn walked to load the bases and Berry scored on a third walk by Maximo Acosta to take a two-run lead.

The Clippers (45-56, 11-18) responded in the third with a leadoff homer by George Valera (1).

With a 2-1 lead, Jacksonville took a four-run advantage in the fourth. Andrew Pintar led off with a walk and scored on a two-run blast by Matt Mervis (13). Mack (10) followed two batters later with a bomb of his own, increasing the lead to 5-1.

The Shrimp extended their lead to 6-1 in the sixth. Acosta led off with a single and scored on an RBI single by Mervis.

Jacksonville added another run in the seventh. Rob Brantly led off the seventh with a single and was plated on a double by Bennet Hostetler to score the Jumbo Shrimp’s seventh run.

The Shrimp added a couple of insurance runs in the eight. A pair of singles from Deyvison De Los Santos and Mack put runners on first and second. Brantly doubled plating both runners making it a 9-1 advantage for Jacksonville.

Robby Snelling dazzled for the Jumbo Shrimp, tossing six innings of just one-run ball. He allowed just two hits and struck out seven without issuing a walk.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for Back to School Night! The first 2,000 people through the Main Gate on Georgia St. will receive a Jumbo Shrimp clear backpack presented by Wolfson’s Children’s.

Jacksonville and Columbus continue the series with Saturday’s 6:35 p.m. first pitch. RHP Adam Mazur (6-5, 4.13 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Jumbo Shrimp and LHP Parker Messick (4-4, 3.47 ERA) will counter for the Clippers. Coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on Bally Live, MLB.tv, MiLB.tv, ESPN 690, and 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.