By Tyler Springs
This is it: no holds barred, for all the marbles, and all the other clichés, when the Jackson Generals face the Biloxi Shuckers for the 2019 Southern League Championship, at 6:05 p.m., at The Ballpark at Jackson, today.
Emilio Vargas was the starting pitcher in last year’s title-clinching game for the Generals, and he started in Game 4 of the North Division Series against Montgomery last Saturday as well (6.0 IP, 3 ER). Vargas threw five shutout frames against Biloxi during the regular season, and righties hit just .195 against him on the year. On Biloxi’s side, Drew Rasmussen is in his first full pro season, recording a 3.54 ERA in 22 regular season appearances. He pitched poorly against Pensacola in the South Division Series (1.2 IP, 2 ER), and he’s had mixed results against the Generals this year (2 games, 4.91 ERA, 3 2/3 IP). The Generals used three relievers last night, including two who threw more than 20 pitches and are likely unavailable tonight (Junior Garcia and Cole Stapler); by contrast, Biloxi used four relievers, with only two of them throwing 20+ pitches (Tyler Spurlin and Daniel Brown).
The Generals, the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks, fell behind early on Saturday and couldn’t recover, stifled offensively in a 4-2 Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee Brewers) win at The Ballpark at Jackson.
WHAT IT WOULD MEAN: If Jackson were to win, the Generals would become the third Southern League team since 2000 to win back-to-back championships, following the ’06-’07 Montgomery Biscuits and the ’11-’12 Mobile BayBears. The Generals would earn their fourth franchise title overall and second as an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate; it would also be the first Southern League title for manager Blake Lalli, who made three SLCS appearances as a player with the Tennessee Smokies (’09-’11) without winning a ring. The Generals would become the third D-backs affiliate to win a title this year, joining the Visalia Rawhide of the California League (who snapped a championship drought of 40 years last night), and the Hillsboro Hops of the Northwest League (who won earlier this week with 2018 Generals personnel Javier Colina and Barry Enright leading their coaching staff). Biloxi is seeking their first title in franchise history.
(PHOTO: Tyler Springs, the Voice of the Jackson Generals)
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