JACKSONVILLE (SportsTicker) - Jacob Amaya and Charles Leblanc blasted home runs but it wasn’t enough as the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp fell to the Gwinnett Stripers 9-4 Thursday night at 121 Financial Ballpark in front of 6,160 fans.
Gwinnett (66-73, 33-31) took their first and only lead in the top of the fifth.
With one out, Vaughn Grissom singled, Joe Dunand walked and Jesús Aguilar smacked an RBI single to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Two batters later, Yolmer Sánchez walked to load the bases and Dalton Guthrie gave the Stripers the lead with a two-run single off Jacksonville (68-72, 36-30) starter Devin Smeltzer (L, 5-9).
The Stripers added to their lead in the sixth on Justin Dean’s (3) solo blast to lead off the inning.
Two runs were added in the top of the seventh to push the lead up to 7-3. With two outs, Sánchez walked and Guthrie was hit by a pitch. Joshua Fuentes ripped a double to score both runners giving Gwinnett a four-run cushion.
Gwinnett’s final tallies came in the top of the eighth. Grissom reached on a fielder’s choice and went to second on a single from Dunand. Aguilar walked to load the bases and two batters later, Sánchez brought in two runs with a base hit for a 9-3 lead. The Stripers finished with eight unanswered runs between the fifth and eighth innings.
The Jumbo Shrimp’s final run came in the bottom of the ninth. Leblanc (11) led off the inning with a solo blast to cut the deficit to 9-4.
Jacksonville got on the board first right away in the bottom of the first inning. Jake Mangum led off with a single and Jacob Amaya (14) walloped a two-run homer off Gwinnett starter Alan Rangel (W, 1-0).
The Stripers cut into the deficit with a run in the top of the third. Dean singled with one out and scored on a double from Andrew Velazquez to make it a one-run game.
The Jumbo Shrimp added to their lead in the bottom of the third. Mangum led off with a triple and scored on a sac fly from Amaya for a two-run advantage.
The series continues Friday from 121 Financial Ballpark at 7:05. Jacksonville will hand the ball to LHP Ryan Weathers (3-0, 1.86 ERA) and Gwinnett will counter with RHP Darius Vines (2-2, 2.86 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on Bally Live, MiLB.tv, ESPN 690, and espn690.com.
Jacksonville took a 3-1 lead into the fifth before the visiting Stripers rallied chasing starter Devin Smelzer.
(Jax SportsDay Photo by Nancy DeLander Beecher/Florida Sports Wire)