Durham's fireworks deny Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in 2023 baseball home opener
It began in a Trevor Lawrence first pitch and ended in a cascade of fireworks.
In between, the Durham Bulls stampeded across the plate again and again, spoiling the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp's 2023 Triple-A baseball home debut Tuesday night at 121 Financial Ballpark, 14-8.
Durham (1-3) pounded the Jacksonville bullpen for nine runs in the final three innings, continuing a trend of bombs-away shootouts in the early going in the Jumbo Shrimp's International League season.
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JAX NATIVE GAMEL STARS IN RETURN
Lawrence's first pitch raised the curtain, but a different Jacksonville connection -- former Bishop Kenny High School outfielder Ben Gamel -- thwarted the hosts.
The 30-year-old Gamel, a veteran of 679 Major League Baseball games with five different teams, made his presence felt in his Jacksonville return.
His final hit was the biggest, a dipping line drive that found its way inside the foul line before taking a bounce and exiting stage right, a ground-rule double that drove in the final run of a five-run seventh that pushed Durham (1-3) in front for good.
The First Coast native's line for the night: 2 for 4 with an RBI, plus a walk, nudging his season average above .300.
SLUGFESTS THE NORM FOR JACKSONVILLE
The scores of 2023: 8-5, 8-7, 13-12 and 14-8.
If the first four games are any indication, the Jumbo Shrimp will be crossing the plate early and often this spring and summer. So will opponents batting against them.
The teams took 52 minutes to complete the first two innings, which included 10 runs -- five for each team -- nine hits and two errors.
Second baseman C.J. Hinojosa further intensified his red-hot start (a .556 batting average) by coming within a home run of the cycle for the Jumbo Shrimp. His two-run triple in the fourth plated Brian Miller and Xavier Edwards to push Jacksonville into a 7-5 lead.
ROUGH START, FINISH FOR SHRIMP HURLERS
Jacksonville's pitching woes hit hard at both ends of the game. Jumbo Shrimp right-hander Jake Walters, who recorded a 3.23 ERA in 2022 across three levels of the lower minors, couldn't get past the third and yielded a three-run homer to Durham's Jonathan Aranda.
Then Ivy Leaguer Josh Simpson, among the Marlins' top 25 prospects, fared well in his initial inning of relief but couldn't slow down a Bull stampede in the seventh. Five consecutive Durham batters reached against Simpson in an inning that included a pair of close calls, a potential strike three ruled outside by the Automated Balls and Strikes system and a near-double play at first.
As it turned out, that inning proved fatal for the Jumbo Shrimp (2-2). Durham piled on five runs, capped by Gamel's ground-rule double into the right field seats for a 10-8 lead. The Bulls kept piling on during the eighth against Robert Garcia.
By contrast, Durham's bullpen limited Jacksonville to three hits and one run, with Braden Bristo (1-0) picking up the win in relief.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp baseball 2023: Opening Day takeaways
