Justus Sheffield Cooks Up Gem As Stripers Win Third Straight
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Justus Sheffield did not allow a hit for four innings and shut out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (31-42) in all six innings of a superb start that keyed a wire-to-wire 3-1 win for the Gwinnett Stripers (33-41) on Saturday evening at Coolray Field. Gwinnett clinched the series
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Justus Sheffield did not allow a hit for four innings and shut out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (31-42) in all six innings of a superb start that keyed a wire-to-wire 3-1 win for the Gwinnett Stripers (33-41) on Saturday evening at Coolray Field. Gwinnett clinched the series win with its third consecutive victory and fourth in the series over Jacksonville.
Decisive Plays: As they have in each victory this series, the Stripers took the lead early in the game, this time with a two-run second inning. Run-scoring hits from Joshua Fuentes and Magneuris Sierra made it 2-0. In the third, Vaughn Grissom tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Joe Dunand to bring the lead to 3-0. The score held until the eighth, where Paul McIntosh got the visitors on the board with a solo homer (1) to center field. Joe Harvey (S, 1) entered in the ninth and retired the side in order to bag the 3-1 win.
Key Contributors: Sheffield (W, 1-2) turned in easily his best start of the year with Gwinnett (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 SO). Grissom (2-for-4, triple) collected his fourth multi-hit game of the series, Fuentes (1-for-3, RBI) has four RBIs in his past two games, and Sierra (1-for-3, double, RBI) recorded his first extra-base hit in 11 games. For Jacksonville, McIntosh (1-for-3, homer, RBI) drove in the only run.
Noteworthy: With another monster game against Jacksonville, Grissom is now hitting .394 (13-for-33, 3 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 1.217 OPS) in eight games against the Jumbo Shrimp this season. Sheffield’s quality start was the third in four games this series for Gwinnett, with the others belonging to Allan Winans and Michael Soroka. With the series clinched, the Stripers now have four series wins this season.
Next Game (Sunday, June 25): Gwinnett vs. Jacksonville, 1:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 12:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. RHP Allan Winans (6-3, 2.82 ERA) for the Stripers against LHP Emmanuel de Jesus (2-2, 3.86 ERA) for Jacksonville. It’s Sunday Funday at Coolray Field, with Pregame Catch on the Field and Postgame Kids Run the Bases (weather permitting).