SL1 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp: Game Notes, August 15 at Tennessee

Published on August 15, 2019 under Southern League (SL1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp play at the Tennessee Smokies in Thursday's 7 p.m. contest. RHP Sixto Sanchez (8-4, 2.61 ERA) starts for the Jumbo Shrimp against Smokies RHP Cory Abbott (6-8, 3.56 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. ET on MiLB.tv, Sunny 102.3 FM, TuneIn and JaxShrimp.com.

HOMERS HELP JUMBO SHRIMP BY SMOKIES

Both Stone Garrett and Jazz Chisholm homered on Wednesday to lead the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to a 4-2 triumph over the Tennessee Smokies. Garrett's two-run shot in the second inning started the scoring. Tennessee answered on Vimael Machin's solo bomb in the fourth before tying the game on Christian Donahue's RBI single in the sixth. The Jumbo Shrimp answered immediately, though. Chisholm smacked a two-run long ball in the seventh to put Jacksonville back in front at 4-2. From there, Vincenzo Aiello, Alex Vesia and Tommy Eveld combined to record the last nine outs of the game in a scoreless fashion.

ALL YOU NEED IS GLOVE

Jacksonville's season-best nine-game errorless streak ended on Tuesday, but the club has still boasted a strong defense through virtually the entirety of the 2019 season. 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 25 contests when hitting the four-run marker. On the season, when the Jumbo Shrimp tally at least four scores, the club is a sterling 45-6 (.882). Jacksonville, however, has plated three runs or fewer in 15 of their last 22 contests.

HIT THEM WITH YOUR BEST SHOT

Jacksonville has surrendered just 91 runs in their last 32 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 2.74 ERA (53 ER in 174.0 IP). The club's starting pitchers have posted 180 strikeouts (9.3 K/9) against 55 walks (2.8 BB/9) and 136 hits allowed (7.0 H/9) in the process.

25 OR SIXTO 4

Jacksonville right-handed pitcher Sixto Sanchez struggled immensely in a July 2 start against Chattanooga, giving up a career-high eight runs on seven hits in only 3.2 innings of work. The native of San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic has rapidly improved since then. Over his last six starts, Sanchez is 5-0 with a 0.72 ERA, ceding just four runs, three earned, on 22 hits (5.3 H/9) in 37.1 innings. During this span, the 21-year-old has struck out 32 against only six walks. Heading into his Thursday start at Tennessee, Sanchez has gone 24 innings in a row without surrendering a run. Among the 110 pitchers in the Southern League this season with at least 40 innings pitchers, Sanchez ranks 14th in FIP (2.69), 14th in xFIP (2.86) and 18th in K-BB% (19.3 percent).

THE 'PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

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 57 contests, Jumbo Shrimp relief pitchers have tossed 194.0 innings with just 46 runs against, 41 earned, for a 1.90 ERA. During this 57-game span, the Jumbo Shrimp's bullpen has collectively ceded just 119 hits (5.5 H/9) while whiffing 217 (10.1 K/9) against 62 walks (2.9 BB/9).

AND THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED

Jacksonville went into play on June 13 with a woeful 25-41 (.379) record. The Jumbo Shrimp have gone 34-21 (.618) since that point behind some dominant pitching. In the 55 games since June 13, Jacksonville has surrendered the fewest hits (365) and second-fewest runs (166) 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), fourth in ERA (2.86), sixth in walks (155) and sixth in strikeouts (514) during this span.

SHRIMP SKEWERS

Heading into play on August 1, Jacksonville ranked last in Double-A in home runs with 41. The club has smacked 12 in the 12 games since that point, fourth-most in the Southern League and tied for 12th in Double-A... Stone Garrett is 6-for-14 (2 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBIs) in the last four games.

Check out the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Statistics

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Southern League Stories from August 15, 2019


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