JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Four home runs, including two from Rece Hinds (10), gave the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp plenty of distance in a 14-2 thrashing of the Gwinnett Stripers Wednesday night at VyStar Ballpark.
Braxton Garrett (W, 1-2) earned his first win of the season for Jacksonville (36-29) in his ninth start behind six shutout innings in which he allowed just one hit and carried a no-hitter into the fifth. Victor Mederos (L, 1-4) wore the loss for Gwinnett (33-32) after yielding five runs and four walks in just two innings. Matt Pushard and Jack Ralston both contributed shutout relief innings for the Jumbo Shrimp.
Jacksonville opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Andrew Pintar led off the home at bats with a bloop double. A Jacob Berry walk and Graham Pauley infield single loaded the bases for Agustín Ramírez, who grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to plate Pintar. One batter later, Hinds punched a single to right to score Berry and open up a 2-0 lead.
The Jumbo Shrimp added on in the second inning on one swing of the bat. Johnny Olmstead and Ethan O’Donnell walked to open the frame, paving the way for Jared Serna (5) to club a three-run homer to left and push Jacksonville’s lead to 5-0.
A pair of two-out two-run home runs benefitted Jacksonville in the bottom of the fifth. Ramírez singled to bring up Hinds, who demolished a two-run longball to left to put the Jumbo Shrimp ahead 7-0. A Matthew Etzel walk coupled with Olmstead’s (4) two-run shot increased the lead to 9-0. Following a pitching change, a hit-by-pitch, single and walk loaded the bases for Berry, who drew another walk to force in Jacksonville’s tenth run.
The Jumbo Shrimp again batted around in the sixth and scored four more. Ramírez led off with a walk and scored on Hinds’ second two-run homer of the game. Etzel reached on a base hit, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on an O’Donnell double. He scored two batters later on a Pintar double to put Jacksonville up 14-0.
Gwinnett strung together a rally in the ninth. Luke Williams singled to begin the frame and back-to-back walks loaded the bases. With DaShawn Keirsey Jr. at the plate, a wild pitch scored Williams. Keirsey Jr. then singled to score Brett Wisely and set the final margin at 14-2.
The series continues Thursday at 7:05 p.m. with Jacksonville right-hander Brandon White (1-2, 10.13) scheduled to start on the mound opposite Gwinnett righty Garrett Baumann (0-0, 0.00) in his Triple-A debut.
Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on Bally Live, MLB.tv, MiLB.tv, ESPN 690 and espn690.com.
Gates open at 6 p.m. and fans can enjoy Crowd Karaoke Night and Thirsty Thursday presented by Coors Light with $2 16-oz. drafts and $3 24-oz. drafts at various locations throughout VyStar Ballpark.
ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins and compete in the International League. The 2025 International League and Triple-A National Champions, the Jumbo Shrimp call VyStar Ballpark home for baseball but also a wide variety of additional community focused events with a goal of providing Affordable, Family, FUN to Northeast Florida. Winners of many marketing and sales awards and recognition since the team was rebranded prior to the 2017 season, the Jumbo Shrimp continually lead the state of Florida in attendance across all minor league professional sports organizations.