SL1 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp: Game Notes, August 13 at Tennessee

August 13, 2019 - Southern League (SL1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp open up a 10-game road trip with Tuesday's 7 p.m. ET game at the Tennessee Smokies. RHP Kolton Mahoney (4-1, 2.63 ERA) starts for the Jumbo Shrimp against Smokies LHP Jack Patterson (0-0, 7.20 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. ET on MiLB.tv, Sunny 102.3 FM, TuneIn and JaxShrimp.com.

VESIA'S WALK-OFF CAPS FRENETIC RALLY

Jacksonville reliever Alex Vesia worked two scoreless innings and then drew a walk-off walk in the 11th inning on Sunday to propel the Jumbo Shrimp to a 4-3 victory over the Mississippi Braves. The M-Braves methodically built up a 3-0 lead, courtesy of Trey Harris' solo home run in the fourth and Daniel Lockhart's two-run shot an inning later. In the eighth, Jazz Chisholm doubled in a run to place Jacksonville on the board. Stone Garrett clobbered a two-run homer in the ninth inning to tie the score. Vesia held the Braves scoreless in both the 10th and 11th innings. The Jumbo Shrimp loaded the bases in the bottom of the 11th, leading to Vesia's four-pitch walk to win the game.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Jumbo Shrimp left-hander Daniel Castano fanned a career-high 13 batters on Thursday against Mississippi in Jacksonville's first nine-inning complete game since Justin Nicolino did so on July 29, 2014. Right-hander Jorge Guzman followed that effort up with a career-high 13 punchouts in six no-hit frames on Friday, helping the Jumbo Shrimp record a season-high 19 whiffs in the contest. No Jacksonville hurler has accumulated more than 13 strikeouts in one game since at least the 2005 season, and the club's 19 punchouts were the most in a game since 2015.

Meanwhile, on Jumbo Shrimp pitchers combined for 24 strikeouts against six walks on Saturday and Sunday against the M-Braves. Thus, over the last four games, Jacksonville pitchers have fanned a total of 56 hitters, an extraordinary 38.4 percent of the 146 Mississippi hitters they have faced.

ALL YOU NEED IS GLOVE

Jacksonville has gone nine games in a row without committing an error, their best such streak of the season. Moreso, the Jumbo Shrimp's flawless defense of late is the most recent in a long line of evidence of an exceedingly strong defensive club. Because errors are subjective in nature and only penalize fielders who actually reach balls in play, perhaps the best introspection of a club's defense in the minor leagues is its defensive efficiency, a simple measure of how often a team turns batted balls put into play against it into outs. Jacksonville boasts a .725 defensive efficiency that not only leads the Southern League, but it would also place third in the major leagues.

FOUR SQUARE

Buoyed by strong pitching throughout the season, the Jumbo Shrimp offense has been given a bigger margin of error by not needing to score huge quantities of runs to win games. In fact, Jacksonville has won each of its last 24 contests when hitting the four-run marker. On the season, when the Jumbo Shrimp tally at least four scores, the club is a sterling 44-6 (.880). Jacksonville, however, has plated three runs or fewer in 14 of their last 20 contests.

HIT THEM WITH YOUR BEST SHOT

Jacksonville has surrendered just 83 runs in their last 30 games (2.8 per game), and the club's starting pitching has been a huge culprit behind those run-prevention efforts. During this span, Jumbo Shrimp starters have combined for a 2.54 ERA (46 ER in 163.0 IP). The club's starting pitchers have posted 169 strikeouts (9.3 K/9) against 51 walks (2.8 BB/9) and 127 hits allowed (7.0 H/9) in the process.

X-'PEN

From June 26 through the eighth inning on July 5, the Jumbo Shrimp bullpen netted a 36-inning streak without an earned run. That roll is in the midst of a stretch that has been devastating opposing lineups late in games. Over the last 55 contests, Jumbo Shrimp relief pitchers have tossed 188.0 innings with just 45 runs against, 40 earned, for a 1.91 ERA. During this 55-game span, the Jumbo Shrimp's bullpen has collectively ceded just 115 hits (5.5 H/9) while whiffing 210 (10.1 K/9) against 59 walks (2.8 BB/9).

TURNING POINT

Jacksonville went into play on June 13 with a woeful 25-41 (.379) record. The Jumbo Shrimp have gone 33-20 (.623) since that point behind some dominant pitching. In the 53 games since June 13, Jacksonville has surrendered both the fewest runs (158) and fewest hits (352) among clubs at the Double-A level. The Jumbo Shrimp also place first in Double-A in batting average against (.207), second in WHIP (1.07), third in ERA (2.81), tied for fifth in walks (148) and sixth in strikeouts (496) during this span.

SHRIMP SKEWER

A triumph in Tuesday's series opener would be Jacksonville's fifth straight victory, matching a season-high.

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