Game 130: Jumbo Shrimp vs Stripers

Matt Present

Published in

Shrimp & Grits

4 min readOct 3, 2021

Sunday, October 3, 2021–1:05 p.m. ET

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (74–55, 6–3) vs. Gwinnett Stripers (71–57, 3–6)

CoolRay Field — Lawrenceville, Ga.

LAST TIME OUT:

A pinch-hit single in the eighth inning Saturday from Joe Dunand was all of the offense Jacksonville could muster in a 2–1 loss to Gwinnett. Corey Bird tallied the lone two-hit game for the Jumbo Shrimp, who hit into three double plays, and had multiple runners on base in an inning only once. Brandon Leibrandt tossed three scoreless innings in relief, and Tommy Eveld struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning.

Joe Dunand ripped a pinch-hit single for Jacksonville in the eighth inning Saturday night. (Bill Moll/Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp)

GAME INFO:

The Jumbo Shrimp and Stripers face off in the series finale to close out the 2021 campaign at 1:05 p.m. Durham (9–0) has clinched the final stretch crown, leading Buffalo by a game in the standings and owning the tie-breaker by virtue of winning the Triple-A East regular-season title.

MEET THE STRIPERS:

Gwinnett is the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. The Stripers finished the regular season 68–51, third in the Southeast Division, just behind the Shrimp.

Gwinnett is managed by Matt Tuiasosopo. This is just Tuiasosopo’s second season as a manager in minor league baseball, and his first season with the Gwinnett Stripers. In 2019, he managed the Rome Braves, the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, and won the Bobby Cox award for best manager in the Atlanta farm system.

Gwinnett is home to eight of the top 30 prospects in Atlanta’s farm system, including each of the top three prospects (Cristian Pache, Shea Langeliers, and Drew Waters). Langeliers was named the Hank Aaron Braves Minor Leauge Player of the Year, hitting 22 home runs in 92 games with the Mississippi Braves. Additionally, Travis Demeritte has also hit 21 home runs this year for the Stripers, becoming the third Gwinnett player ever to hit 20+ homers in back-to-back seasons. Yohan Camargo has hit safely in 11 consecutive games, batting nearly .500 over that stretch, including four homers in his last six games.

PITCHING MATCHUP:

LHP Daniel Castano (6–2, 4.35 ERA)

Daniel Castano will make his 14th start of the season for the Jumbo Shrimp. Following a six-inning start against Memphis last week when he struck out seven and gave up only one run, he is working on a string of seven consecutive outings in which he has worked at least five innings. Over that span, he has given up just 17 earned runs in 42.2 innings of work (3.63 ERA), including seven shutout innings against the Tides on August 28 on his way to winning the Triple-A East Pitcher of the Week award. Castano was originally selected in the 16th round of the 2016 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. On December 13, 2017, he was traded to Miami along with Sandy Alcántara, Magneuris Sierra and Zac Gallen in exchange for outfielder Marcell Ozuna. Castano then made his major league debut for the Marlins on August 8, 2020. Castano works with a fastball, cutter, and curveball.

LHP Tucker Davidson (2–1, 0.90 ERA)

Tucker Davidson will make a rehab start for Atlanta. Davidson made three starts for Gwinnett this season, in which he struck out 23 in 21.0 innings, allowing just 12 baserunners. In four starts with the Braves, prior to injury, he posted a 3.60 ERA, striking out 18 in 20 innings of work. He was drafted by the Braves in the 19th round in 2016 out of Midland College and decided to join Atlanta instead of transferring to NC State. He was added to the 40-man roster following the 2019 campaign, and after being a member of the 60-man player pool for much of 2020, made his major league debut against the Red Sox on September 26. He primarily works with a fastball, slider and curveball, while mixing in an occasional changeup or sinker.

LINEUP