Ramírez’s two homers lift Jacksonville past Norfolk, 5-2

Agustín Ramírez is making the Marlins’ conversation harder to avoid. The 24-year-old catcher launched two solo home runs Tuesday night, powering Jacksonville past Norfolk 5-2 at VyStar Ballpark and giving the Jumbo Shrimp the kind of offense that can change a series in two swings.

Ramírez’s first homer came with two outs in the sixth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie and putting Jacksonville back in front for good. He struck again in the eighth with another solo blast as the Shrimp added the separation they needed to close out the opener of the six-game set. For a Jacksonville club that has leaned on power during this stretch, Ramírez’s night fit the pattern perfectly: not just loud contact, but timely damage that flipped the game. Ramírez, born Sept. 10, 2001, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, already has an MLB debut on his resume from April 21, 2025, and nights like this make his bat look ready for another look.

Jesús Bastidas set the tone early and kept the pressure on. He drove in Graham Pauley in the second inning after Jacksonville began the frame with a pair of walks, then added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to bring home Andrew Pintar, who had tripled. Bastidas finished with two RBIs, and Matthew Etzel also went deep, giving Jacksonville three home runs in all and enough pop to outlast Norfolk’s brief response.

The Tides answered with solo homers from Christian Encarnacion-Strand and José Barrero, but they never fully seized control. Trace Bright was tagged for three runs in 5.2 innings, walking four and striking out four, and Norfolk’s pitching staff could not keep the game tied once Ramírez broke it open.

Jacksonville’s pitching backed up the offense with a clean finish. Dax Fulton worked five innings and struck out four, Zach Brzykcy handled two innings, and Tyler Zuber closed with two scoreless frames to earn his first save of the season. Zuber stranded the bases loaded in the ninth, a fitting final stress test for a game Jacksonville had to win after dropping the previous night’s opener.

The victory moved Jacksonville to 25-21 and dropped Norfolk to 18-28. It also continued a recent run that has featured extra-inning power against Memphis and another home run night from Ramírez, reinforcing how often the Shrimp are being carried by impact bats and late-inning pitching in the same game.