SL1 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Suns Take Extra Inning Thriller

Published on August 29, 2007 under Southern League (SL1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


Mobile, Ala. - A.J. Ellis belted a three-run homerun in the top of the 10th inning securing a back-and-forth series finale as the Jacksonville Suns (79-56, 38-27) held off the Mobile BayBears (69-66, 32-33) for an 8-6 victory in front of 2,986 Wednesday night at Hank Aaron Stadium.

The win combined with Montgomery's win over Carolina keeps Jacksonville four games back of the first place Biscuits with five games remaining. The Suns and Biscuits open the head-to-head series to end the regular season on Friday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

The tenth inning heroics followed what was a wild bottom of the ninth inning. With the Suns leading 5-4 Mark Alexander entered the game from the Suns bullpen looking for his sixth save. Agustin Murrillo led off the inning with a single, but the next two BayBears went down in order. Aaron Cunningham then smashed a ball high and deep to left field. Instead of going out for a game-ending homerun or being caught by Anthony Raglani for a game-ending out, the ball hit off of the fence for an RBI double tying the game 5-5.

Jacksonville opened the scoring in the first inning against Mobile starter Osbek Castillo when A.J. Ellis doubled home Kevin Howard with one out. Mobile's Aaron Cunningham smashed a homerun off of Suns starter Greg Miller in the bottom of the first to open a 2-1 BayBears lead.

Mobile added a run to the lead in the third inning with a two-out throwing error by catcher A.J. Ellis allowed Cesar Nicolas to score for a 3-1 Mobile lead.

The Suns took over again in the sixth inning. Two walks and fielder's choice loaded the bases with no outs. Following a pop out, Anthony Raglani belted a grand slam homerun to right-centerfield, his 21st homerun of the season, for a 5-3 Suns lead.

Mobile got to within 5-4 in the eighth inning when Josh Ford belted a two-out, solo homerun off of reliever Cory Wade. The BayBears ended the scoring in the bottom of the tenth when Ford hit his second solo homerun of the game for an 8-6 Suns win.

Greg Miller went four and one-thirds innings for Jacksonville with three runs, two earned on six hits, three walks and seven strikeouts. Cory Wade allowed only the solo homerun in three and two-thirds innings. Mark Alexander (5-0) blew a save in the ninth, but finished off the BayBears in the tenth for a victory. Mobile's Clint Goocher (5-4) fell in the loss.

The Suns improved to 6-2 in extra inning games during 2007. The Jacksonville pitching staff is three strikeouts away from setting a new Southern League record for strikeouts in a season. The 2005 Suns had 1,144 while the 2007 Suns currently have 1,142.

The Suns return to the Baseball Grounds Friday for the series opener against the first place Montgomery Biscuits. Friday is Family Faith Night with a special post-game concert by Mark Schultz. Tickets are available by calling 904.358.2846 or by visiting jaxsuns.com.

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Southern League Stories from August 29, 2007


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