Game 120: Jumbo Shrimp at Tides

Matt Present

Published in

Shrimp & Grits

4 min readSep 19, 2021

Sunday, September 19, 2021–1:05 p.m. ET

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (67–50) at Norfolk Tides (47–70)

Harbor Park — Norfolk, Va.

LAST TIME OUT:

The Jumbo Shrimp racked up 16 hits, including a season-high seven doubles, in an 11–4 rout of the Norfolk Tides on Saturday. Joe Dunand blasted his eighth home run of the season as part of a three-hit night, while Connor Justus also enjoyed three hits in the win. Six different Jumbo Shrimp tallied multi-hit efforts, including Corey Bird and Justin Twine, who each finished with two doubles on the day. Braxton Garrett gave up one earned run in four innings, and Brandon Leibrandt followed him up with one run over four frames in relief, earning his second victory in three outings.

Joe Dunand went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs on Saturday in Jacksonville’s win at Norfolk. (Bill Moll/Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp)

GAME INFO:

The Jumbo Shrimp go for a series win today against the Tides at 1:05 p.m. at Harbor Park as the teams wrap up the season series. The Jumbo Shrimp lead the season series 24–11, and are 36–23 on the road this season. Jacksonville returns home Tuesday to begin Final Stretch play against the Memphis Redbirds.

MEET THE TIDES:

Norfolk is the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Tides enter with a 48–71 record and are sixth in the Southeast Division.

Norfolk is managed by Gary Kendall, who returns for his second season with the Tides. Before joining the Tides in 2019, Kendall was the manager for the Bowie Baysox for eight seasons, setting the franchise managerial record for career wins at 570. Kendall led the Baysox to three postseason appearances, including the franchise’s lone Eastern League Championship in 2015.

Norfolk, like Jacksonville, is a very big Navy town, which is why the regular-season series between these two teams has been dubbed “The Navy Town Showdown.” As the winner of the series, Jacksonville will receive a ship’s bell as a trophy, presented by Geico Military.

The Orioles promoted catcher Adley Rutschman, the top-ranked prospect in Minor League Baseball, to Triple-A last month. Rutschman was selected by the Orioles in 2019 as the №1 overall pick out of Oregon State University. Since being called up, the switch-hitter is slashing .313/.409/.504/.913 with 14 extra-base hits, and 14 RBIs in 31 games. Like their parent club, the Tides have struggled to find reliable starting pitching this season, posting a 5.14 ERA from their rotation.

PITCHING MATCHUP:

RHP Bryan Mitchell (3–1, 4.50 ERA)

Bryan Mitchell will make his third start (10th appearance) of the season for the Jumbo Shrimp. He has been excellent in the month of August, yielding just one run in 10 innings of work, striking out 12 and walking only two. In his most recent start on September 7 against Charlotte, he struck out seven in four innings, allowing only one run. Mitchell was originally drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees in the 16th round of 2009. He made his MLB debut versus Cleveland in 2014, and made it back most recently with the Marlins last month after being signed as a free agent on July 29. He primarily features a fastball, cutter, and curve.

LHP Ryan Hartman (1–0, 4.22 ERA)

Ryan Hartman will make his eighth appearance (fourth start) for Norfolk this afternoon. Hartman began the season in the Houston Astros’ organization, where he made his Major League debut on June 30, ironically, against the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore claimed him off waivers one month later. The lefty was originally a ninth-round pick by the Astros in 2016 out of Tennessee Wesleyan, where he helped lead the Bulldogs to an NAIA World Series. The 27-year-old features a fastball, curveball, changeup, and slider.

LINEUP

Brian Miller, LF
Connor Justus, SS
Bryson Brigman, DH
Monte Harrison, CF
Lorenzo Quintana, C
Joe Dunand, 3B
Zack Zehner, RF
Deven Marrero, 1B
Justin Twine, 2B

NEWS FROM THE TROUPE:

Nick Fortes homered in his Major League debut for Miami last night, becoming just the eighth player in Marlins history to do so. He is the first since Isan Diaz on August 5, 2019.
With Payton Henry making his MLB debut the night prior, they are the first duo to debut as starting catchers on consecutive days since the St. Louis Browns’ Joe Jenkins and Jack Enzenroth on April 30 and May 1, 1914.

TRIPLE-A SOUTHEAST DIVISION STANDINGS