The Memphis Redbirds lost both games in a doubleheader against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Triple-A affiliate, Miami Marlins) on Friday night. The scene at the ballpark was the story. A season-high 5,776 fans cheered on the hometown team in front of sunny blue skies and perfect weather in the lows 80s with little humidity.
Game one of the doubleheader featured quality starting pitching. Tommy Parsons kept the Redbirds in the ballgame, surrendering just three earned runs in 5.0 innings pitched with six strikeouts. The right-hander closed his start with consecutive scoreless innings.
Nick Neidert was even better on the other side for the Jumbo Shrimp, allowing just one earned run on four hits. The lone run he allowed was on a solo home run by Justin Williams in the bottom of the fifth, his final inning of work.
In the top of the seventh, Jacksonville put the game out of reach, turning a 3-1 game into 6-1 via three runs on four hits. Isan Diaz had the final blow of the inning, smacking a two-run double to complete the scoring for the Jumbo Shrimp in the doubleheader’s first game. Clint Coulter lined a solo homer down the left-field line in the bottom of the seventh, but that was the last hit the ‘Birds would have in a 6-2 loss.
Game two was all Jacksonville (29-21), as their bats brought the thunder. They scored seven runs on 13 hits. The third inning was the early knockout blow – the Jumbo Shrimp plated four runs on six hits, including four separate RBI singles. Zack Zehner led the team with two RBIs in the game. He has four in the first four games of the series.
Brandon Leibrandt kept Memphis (19-33) batters off-balance in his four-inning start, striking out eight Redbirds batters while allowing just one hit. Parker Bugg backed him up, working three innings of two-run ball to cap off a 7-2 victory for Jacksonville.
Garrett Williams impressed out of the bullpen for Memphis, working two scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Three of the five strikeouts were swinging.
