Jacksonville blanked in Friday game against Norfolk

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite a strong outing from Morgan McSweeney, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp fell to the Norfolk Tides, 5-0, Friday from Harbor Park.

Norfolk (62-83, 32-40) struck first in the fourth inning. Gary Sánchez (6) smashed a solo home run, giving the Tides a 1-0 lead.

The Tides added to their lead in the sixth. With one out, Adley Rutschman walked. Two batters later, Vimael Machín walked. With runners at first and second, Daniel Johnson ripped an RBI double, making it 2-0. Ryan Noda walked and with the bases loaded, Jud Fabian worked a walk, scoring Machín. With the bases still juiced, Johnson scored on another walk from Terrin Vavra, making it 4-0.

In the seventh, Enrique Bradfield Jr. walked and stole second. Rutschman singled putting two runners on. With runners at first and second, a fielder’s choice from Sánchez, coupled with an error, scored Bradfield and extended the Tides lead to five.

McSweeney recorded another strong outing for Jacksonville (88-60, 41-32). The righty tossed five innings, allowing a lone run while striking out six.

Jacksonville and Norfolk continue their series in Saturday’s contest starting at 6:35 p.m. at Harbor Park. LHP Dax Fulton (0-1, 5.84 ERA) will start for the Jumbo Shrimp. Coverage will begin at 6:20 p.m. on ESPN 690 AM and www.ESPN690.com.

ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins and compete in the International League. The team calls 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.