IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Braves Drop First Series Of Season

May 10, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


The Richmond Braves dropped the series finale against the Charlotte Knights 12-1 on Thursday night. The Knights scored seven runs in the fourth inning and never looked back. Charlotte took three of four from Richmond to hand the Braves their first series loss of the season. Richmond dropped to 21-9 and Charlotte improved to 13-20.

The Braves scored first in the top of the fourth, after Martin Prado led off the inning with his seventh double of the season. Yunel Escobar moved Prado to third on his single to first. Prado then came home when Escobar was picked off on his attempt to steal second base, giving the Braves an early 1-0 lead.

Charlotte came right back and scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth frame. The Knights loaded the bases for Wiki Gonzalez, who smashed a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall to give Charlotte a 4-1 lead. After a Kenny Kelly walk, left fielder Jerry Owens sliced a RBI double down the left field line to make it a 5-1 Knights' lead. Josh Fields followed Owens' double with a two-run home run, giving Charlotte a six-run advantage.

In the bottom of the fifth, Wiki Gonzalez struck again by driving in Brian Anderson on a RBI groundout to make it an 8-1 Knights' lead. Charlotte third baseman Josh Fields added two more runs on a line-drive single to center, in the bottom of the eighth, to give the Knights a 10-1 lead. Ernie Young chased home Fields on his two-run homer to left which left the Knights, with a season-high 12 runs.

The Knights were led by Wiki Gonzalez who drove in five runs. Gonzalez' homer in the fourth, was his third in two games. Gonzalez drove home 10 runs in the series, five on Wednesday and five more on Thursday. Josh Fields, who was 2-for-4, drove in four runs for the Knights. Ernie Young drove in two on his third home run of the season.

Carlos Vasquez picked up the win after pitching two scoreless innings. Vasquez improved to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in his third game for Charlotte. Knights' starter Shaun Babula allowed just one earned in four innings. Charlotte relievers, Dwayne Pollok and Corwin Malone also saw action on Thursday. Pollok pitched two scoreless while Malone closed the game with a scoreless ninth.

The Braves' Martin Prado was 2-for-4 to extend his hit-streak to six games and is 12-for-24 during that stretch. Yunel Escobar was 3-for-4 in the Braves' loss.

Richmond starter Jonathan Johnson yielded a season-high eight earned runs in 4.0 innings in his first loss of the season. Buddy Hernandez pitched a perfect fifth and sixth inning for the Braves. Joe Winkelsas allowed Charlotte to score three more runs in the eighth in his 1.2 innings of work. Will Startup was charged one earned run in 0.1 innings to close out Thursday's game.

Richmond continues their eight-game road trip on Friday, with the first of four games at Durham. The Braves are scheduled to start RHP Buddy Carlyle (4-1, 2.78 ERA) against the Bulls' RHP Jason Hammel (1-3, 2.56 ERA). Buddy Carlyle struck out 10 in his last start against Durham, and has 37 strikeouts in 32.1 innings this season. Carlyle is 3-0 and has not allowed a run in 18.0 innings in his last three starts. The series opener is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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