IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

G-Braves Sweep Twinbill in Norfolk

Published on September 3, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


NORFOLK, VA - The Gwinnett Braves (74-65) kept their hopes of winning the International League South Division title alive on Wednesday night, defeating the Norfolk Tides (76-63) 6-2 and 7-2 in a doubleheader at Harbor Park.

With the twinbill sweep, the G-Braves trail the Tides by 2.0 games in the IL South with five games left in the regular season. The teams meet twice more on the current series in Norfolk.

In game one, Gwinnett fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning as right-handed starter Jake Brigham gave up a leadoff double to David Lough and an RBI single to Christian Walker.

The G-Braves quickly responded, scoring four runs in the second inning to take a 4-1 lead against Tides' right-handed starter Elih Villanueva. Sean Kazmar and Luis Mateo reached on consecutive one-out singles, and a double down the left field line by Barrett Kleinknecht scored them both. Jacob Schrader then coaxed a walk, and he and Kleinknecht both scored on a bloop single to left-center by Mallex Smith.

The lead grew to 5-1 an inning later as Joey Terdoslavich launched a towering solo home run (4) to right field off Villanueva.

With two outs in the bottom of the third, a light rain turned into a heavy storm that chased the teams off the field for a 1-hour, 44-minute delay. The downpour knocked both Villanueva and Brigham out of the game. Villanueva (L, 4-4) surrendered five runs on five hits and a walk over 3.0 innings, while Brigham allowed a run on two hits with a walk and a strikeout over 2.2 innings in a no-decision.

Right-hander David Carpenter took over for the G-Braves when play resumed. After retiring the only batter he faced in the third, he yielded a run in the fourth as Nolan Reimold walked, moved to third on a single by Henry Urrutia and scored on a sacrifice fly by Junior Lake. Carpenter (W, 3-0) exited with a run on three hits over 2.1 innings, including one walk and one strikeout. Right-hander Carlos Fisher (S, 6) pitched 2.0 scoreless innings and struck out four with a walk and two hits allowed to finish the game.

Gwinnett made it a 6-2 advantage against left-hander Cesar Cabral in the seventh as Smith walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a wild pitch. Cabral lasted 1.0 inning with a run on three walks, no hits and one strikeout. Right-hander Richard Rodriguez also threw 3.0 scoreless innings for the Tides.

In game two, the G-Braves snapped a 1-1 tie in the second inning against knuckle-balling right-hander Eddie Gamboa of the Tides. Jordan Lennerton doubled to right-center and scored on a double by Kleinknecht into the left-field corner. An inning later, Mateo sent a line drive over the left-field fence for a two-run home run (2), extending the lead to 4-1.

After Norfolk narrowed the lead to 4-2 on an RBI single by Lake in the third, Gwinnett tacked on three more runs in the fourth to make it 7-2. Cedric Hunter beat out an infield single to plate his team-leading 74th RBI of the year, and Kazmar added a two-run single to right field to break the game open.

Right-hander Brandon Barker, making just his second career Triple-A start, yielded runs in the first and third innings but avoided major damage. Barker (W, 1-1) pitched 5.0 innings and held Norfolk to two runs, one earned on five hits and a walk while striking out three. Right-hander Jason Hursh pitched 2.0 scoreless innings with two hits allowed, a walk and a strikeout to finish the game.

Gamboa (L, 8-11) left after 3.0 innings having given up five runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts. His replacement, left-hander Dana Eveland, allowed two runs over the final 4.0 innings for the Tides.

Kleinknecht went a combined 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and three RBIs to lead Gwinnett. Smith went 2-for-5, as well, scoring twice and plating two RBIs while also stealing his team-leading 29th and 30th bases of the season with Gwinnett. Mateo went 2-for-6 with the homer, two runs scored and two RBIs.

For the Tides, Walker went 3-for-8 with a double and two RBIs to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

The G-Braves and Tides play game three of the four-game series at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday night at Harbor Park. Right-hander Ryan Weber (5-3, 2.11 ERA) is slated to start for Gwinnett, while Norfolk will counter with left-hander Mike Belfiore (5-12, 5.36 ERA). Dave Lezotte has the call beginning at 6:30 p.m. on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com.

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International League Stories from September 3, 2015


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