Brito's slam lifts BayBears to win

Brito's slam lifts BayBears to win

By J.P. Shadrick

JACKSONVILLE, FL - Javier Brito recorded seven RBI including a seventh inning grand slam homerun while leading the Mobile BayBears (48-64, 19-23) to an 8-4 victory over the Jacksonville Suns (50-63, 17-26) in front of 4,312 Sunday afternoon at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

The Suns lead the current series two games to one while leading the season series against Mobile 12 games to 10.

Mobile starter Tony Barnette (8-7) allowed only a sixth inning run and four hits over six innings for the win. Jamie Hoffmann's sixth inning sacrifice fly was the only blemish. Barnette walked one with six strikeouts, to increase his strikeout total to 111, the second-best in the Southern League.

Suns reliever Kieran Mattison (0-1) fell in the loss after allowing five runs during the seventh inning.

Jacksonville starter James Adkins had his best Double-A outing in his third start with Jacksonville, allowing one run, six hits and three walks over five innings. The former supplemental first round pick came away without a decision.

Mobile opened the scoring against Adkins in the fifth inning as Javier Brito singled home Yunesky Sanchez with two out for a 1-0 lead. Hoffmann's sixth inning sacrifice fly against Mobile's Barnette tied the game 1-1.

The BayBears took the lead for good in the seventh inning against Suns reliever Kieran Mattison. Gerardo Parra's single scored Sanchez for a 2-1 Mobile lead. Later, Javier Brito smashed a grand slam homerun, his seventh homerun of the season for a 6-1 advantage. Mattison then recorded outs against the next three batters to end the inning.

Mobile extended the lead to 8-1 with an eighth inning, two-run single from Brito, ending his RBI total at seven.

The Suns scored two runs in the eighth inning on a Russell Mitchell sacrifice fly and Juan Gonzalez double, and one more in the ninth on an Ivan DeJesus single to finish the scoring at 8-4.

Suns RH James McDonald was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas following the game, and LH Eric Cyr has been reassigned to Jacksonville from Las Vegas to start Monday night's game for the Suns. Mobile RH Hector Ambriz will make the start. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET. The first 1,000 will receive a photoball of Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. It's also David Lamm Appreciation Night, sponsored by 930 The Fox. Tickets are available through the Suns box office at (904) 358-2846 or by visiting www.jaxsuns.com