Sears Fans 10, McCabe Plates Six as Stripers Crush Jacksonville 8-0

Brett Sears works 6.0 one-hit innings, David McCabe belts grand slam as Gwinnett routs Jumbo Shrimp

Brett Sears has a 0.92 ERA over four starts with Gwinnett this season.

By Dave Lezotte (@davelezotte)

September 9, 2026

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Brett Sears struck out 10 batters over 6.0 scoreless, one-hit innings and David McCabe capped a six-RBI night with a grand slam as the Gwinnett Stripers (34-32, 72-68) crushed the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (28-37, 70-69) 8-0 on Wednesday night at VyStar Ballpark. Gwinnett leads the series 2-1.

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Brett Sears struck out 10 batters over 6.0 scoreless, one-hit innings and David McCabe capped a six-RBI night with a grand slam as the Gwinnett Stripers (34-32, 72-68) crushed the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (28-37, 70-69) 8-0 on Wednesday night at VyStar Ballpark. Gwinnett leads the series 2-1.

Decisive Plays: Sears and Jacksonville starter Luis Palacios (L, 3-2) dueled through five scoreless innings before the Stripers finally broke through in the sixth. Jim Jarvis led off the frame with a triple to right-center and scored on a one-out single by McCabe. After a double by Jordan Groshans, Jose Azocar plated both runners with a flare single to right field to make it 3-0. Gwinnett added insurance in the eighth as Lizandro Espinosa was hit by a pitch, stole second, took third on an error, and scored on a sac fly by McCabe. In the eighth, McCabe put the game out of reach at 8-0 with a two-out grand slam (3) to the bleacher seats in right.

Key Contributors: Sears (W, 1-0) allowed just two baserunners (1 H, 1 BB) over his 6.0 innings, earning his first career Triple-A victory. Relievers Luis Vargas (H, 1) and Blake Burkhalter finished off the one-hit shutout. McCabe (2-for-4, homer, 6 RBIs) and Azocar (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) both had multi-RBI games, while Groshans (3-for-5, 2 doubles, triple) had three extra-base hits. Jacksonville’s only hit of the game came from Johnny Olmstead in the third, a triple to left field that Azocar lost in the lights.

Noteworthy: The win was Gwinnett’s ninth shutout this season. With his second straight quality start, Sears is now 1-0 with a 0.92 ERA (2 ER in 19.2 IP), 0.97 WHIP, and .185 BAA across four starts with the Stripers this year. McCabe’s six RBIs were one short of matching his career high of seven, set on August 13, 2025 with Double-A Columbus at Biloxi.

Next Game (Thursday, September 10): Gwinnett Stripers at Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 7:05 p.m. ET at VyStar Ballpark. Radio Broadcast: 6:50 p.m on MyCountry993.com. Live Video Stream: Bally Sports Live.