When Jacksonville's Power Alley opened Tuesday night, Heriberto Hernandez made sure to bring the power.
Hernandez belted a third-inning grand slam to mark a grand re-opening for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp's renovated VyStar Ballpark, beating the Worcester Red Sox 10-5 in Tuesday night's Triple-A baseball home opener.
The outfielder went deep for the Jumbo Shrimp (3-1) in a five-run third inning that blew the game open.
After a light rain shower combined with nearby lightning pushed back the first pitch 45 minutes, the home crowd of 5,967 fans enjoyed highlights on the diamond before the postgame fireworks in the late-night hours.
For the Jumbo Shrimp, it's one home game down, 74 more to go, plus nearly as many on the road in the International League East campaign.
GRAND SLAM, GRAND OPENING
![Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and Worcester Red Sox players line up for introductions before home Opening Day of Triple-A baseball at VyStar Ballpark on April 1, 2025. [Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union]](https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-florida-times-union/63758cb6021f72f6e3d2ba18842ddc85)
Hernandez's grand slam marked the turning point.
Worcester starter Brayan Bello (0-1), on a rehab assignment from Boston, mowed down Jacksonville batters with five strikeouts in two innings before encountering choppy waters in the third.
Jacksonville had already tied the score 1-1 on an RBI single by Maximo Acosta when the grand slam came.
Hernandez, a 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic who swings hard (406 strikeouts in the last three years) and inflicts damage when he connects (60 homers in the same span), already entered the night with a 1.158 OPS for Jacksonville.
That improved further when he clubbed a 3-0 fastball from reliever Hunter Dobbins, a no-doubt-about-it blast that left the bat at 106 mph and settled into the newest seats in the house, part of a ballpark renovation of more than $30 million.
That was just the start of the long-ball fun for the Jumbo Shrimp, who tacked on a three-run homer from Acosta and a solo shot by Troy Johnston in the first home victory for new manager David Carpenter.
PROSPECT WATCH: AGUSTIN RAMIREZ
Ranked among the top five Miami Marlins prospects, Agustin Ramirez was busy from the start.
The catcher recorded the first out of the season at the ballpark in unusual fashion, fielding a throw at home to retire Worcester leadoff man Roman Anthony in an unsuccessful attempt to stretch a game-opening triple into an inside-the-park home run.
Ramirez also added a double in the third, part of the flurry ...
