IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Buffalo Hands Gwinnett Third-Straight Loss

Published on May 9, 2012 under International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. - Buffalo continued their late-inning scoring trend as the Bisons broke a tie game with three runs in the eighth inning to beat Gwinnett 4-1 on Wednesday night at Coolray Field. With the defeat, the International League South-leading G-Braves have now lost three consecutive games and six of their last seven contests.

A night after getting shut out by the Bisons, the G-Braves came out of the gate swinging as they scored a run in the first to take a 1-0 lead. Luis Durango walked and then proceeded to steal second and third base before scoring on a Stefan Gartrell RBI single. Durango wound up stealing another base in the third inning, boosting his league-leading total to 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts. Gartrell, meanwhile, recorded his 10th RBI in his last nine games.

The lead would be short-lived. Buffalo tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning when Matt Tuiasosopo drove home Valentino Pascucci on a two-out single off left-hander Yohan Flande.

The game remained tied until the seventh inning when Flande allowed the first two hitters, Oswaldo Navarro and Jean Luc Blaquiere, to reach on singles. Pinch-hitter Josh Satin grounded into a fielder's choice that resulted in shortstop Josh Wilson cutting down Navarro at the plate for the first out of the inning. Flande was then lifted from the game for left-hander Dusty Hughes.

Hughes hit Bobby Scales with his first pitch to load the bases, then yielded an RBI single to Fred Lewis that put Buffalo ahead, 2-1. Zach Lutz broke the game open with a two-out, two-run single that scored both Satin and Scales to boost the Bisons' lead to three.

Right-handers Jason Rice and Cory Gearrin combined for 2.0 scoreless innings and four strikeouts the rest of the way, but the G-Braves couldn't stage a comeback offensively. Bisons' left-hander Justin Hampson (H, 4) scattered three hits over 1.1 innings in relief and right-hander Elvin Ramirez (S, 1) worked 1.2 scoreless innings for the save.

Flande (L, 1-2) was fantastic until the seventh inning of the pitcher's duel. The left-hander surrendered three runs, two earned, on eight hits and struck out six while walking two. He lost the battle with Bisons' right-hander Jeurys Familia, who enjoyed his best start of the season. The No. 4 ranked prospect in the New York Mets system according to Baseball America, Familia (W, 3-1) yielded a run on four hits over 6.0 innings, walked two and struck out six in the winning effort.

Gartrell and Ernesto Mejia each finished 2-for-4 in the loss for Gwinnett. Lewis (3-for-5, RBI) and Lutz (2-for-5, 2 RBI) each posted multi-hit nights for Buffalo.

The Gwinnett Braves (19-13) and Buffalo Bisons (20-13) conclude their series on Thursday morning at Coolray Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 10:35 AM on Education Day presented by Belk. Right-hander Todd Redmond (2-3, 3.69) will start for the G-Braves, while Buffalo counters with right-hander Jeremy Hefner (3-1, 1.64). Listen to the broadcast on 1240 ESPN Radio in Gainesville, GA with Tony Schiavone calling the play-by-play.

Tickets for all Gwinnett Braves home games are on sale now at the Coolray Field Box Office. Call (678) 277-0340 or visit gwinnettbraves.com for more information.

Check out the Gwinnett Stripers Statistics



International League Stories from May 9, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central