MOBILE, AL - Despite seeing their postseason chances fade away late Thursday night, the Biloxi Shuckers continued to play well in Mobile with another 5-2 victory over the BayBears on Friday. Troy Stokes Jr. hit his second home run in as many nights to help the Shuckers clinch their third
MOBILE, AL - Despite seeing their postseason chances fade away late Thursday night, the Biloxi Shuckers continued to play well in Mobile with another 5-2 victory over the BayBears on Friday. Troy Stokes Jr. hit his second home run in as many nights to help the Shuckers clinch their third straight winning season.
At 69-65 with three games remaining, the Shuckers will finish the 2017 season above the .500 mark. Though they won't make the playoffs, the Shuckers are just 0.5 games behind the Pensacola Blue Wahoos for the best overall record in the South Division.
Corbin Burnes started the game for the Shuckers, and fought command issues to deliver 3.0 scoreless innings. The righty walked three and allowed three hits while striking out two, but coaxed an inning-ending double play in the first to escape Mobile's best threat. He finishes the season with a 1.67 overall ERA between Advanced-A Carolina and Double-A Biloxi, third-best in all of Minor League Baseball.
The Shuckers took advantage of a Mobile miscue in the fourth to take a commanding lead. Blake Allemand hit a one-out pop-up to shallow left field that Tim Arakawa dropped for an error, and came home to score on a two-out single from Tyrone Taylor . One batter later, Stokes Jr. hit a long three-run homer to left field off Jesus Castillo (L, 0-2) that gave the Shuckers a 4-0 lead. The homer for Stokes was his sixth in Biloxi and 20th overall this season, placing him in the exclusive 20/20 club with 20 home runs and 29 stolen bases.
Forrest Snow (W, 6-4) was dominant in relief of Burnes, taking the game into the eighth inning for the Shuckers. The righty allowed just two hits, though one was a solo home run off the bat of Alberto Triunfel in the fifth inning. He departed with a runner on third in the eighth inning that would later score off Josh Uhen .
Johnny Davis hit a bad-bounce single in the ninth inning to give the Shuckers an insurance run, and the speedy center fielder promptly stole second base for his Double-A best 47th swipe of the season.
Matt Ramsey (S, 26) came on for the bottom of the ninth and retired the BayBears in order to earn his league-leading 26th save of the season.
The Shuckers continue their season-ending series at Mobile on Friday as Freddy Peralta faces off against the BayBears. First pitch from Hank Aaron Stadium is at 7:05 pm, and live coverage begins at 6:45 pm on Cruisin' WGCM AM-1240/FM-100.9 and the Shuckers Radio Network. The game will also be available at biloxishuckers.com, MiLB.TV and TuneIn Radio.
ABOUT THE BILOXI SHUCKERS: The Biloxi Shuckers are the Double-A Southern League Affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Shuckers play at MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi. For more information please visit biloxishuckers.com and follow us on Twitter @biloxishuckers and at facebook.com/biloxishuckers.com.
