Sports stats

IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Gwinnett 6, Charlotte 2 G-Braves Clinch First-Ever IL

September 5, 2016 - International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


CHARLOTTE, NC -- Blake Lalli drove in four runs and Tyrell Jenkins tossed 7.2 two-run innings as the Gwinnett Braves (65-78) defeated the Charlotte Knights (65-79) 6-2 on Monday to secure the team's first-ever International League South Division championships and first Governors' Cup Playoff berth since 2009.

Gwinnett entered the day trailing Charlotte by a half-game for the IL South lead, setting up a "win-and-you're-in" season finale with the Knights at BB&T Ballpark.

Lalli staked the G-Braves to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, lacing an opposite-field double into the left-field corner scoring both Mel Rojas Jr. and Sean Kazmar Jr., who had each reached on one-out singles.

The G-Braves raised the lead to 4-0 in the third. Emilio Bonifacio, Reid Brignac and Ronnier Mustelier opened the inning with three-straight singles to load the bases. Rio Ruiz beat out a fielder's choice scoring Bonifacio, and Rojas Jr. lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Brignac.

The four early runs chased Knights' starter and former G-Brave Kameron Loe after 3.0 innings. Loe (L, 3-5) allowed the four runs on six hits, walked none and struck out two.

Jenkins (W, 9-3) was nearly untouchable early as he held Charlotte to a hit and a walk over the first four innings. The Knights ended the shutout on Jacob May's RBI double in the seventh and added a second run on Nicky Delmonico's RBI single in the eighth. That was the only damage against the G-Braves' right-hander, who scattered 10 hits over 7.2 innings, walked one and struck out two to earn his team-leading ninth win of the year.

After the Knights had cut the Gwinnett lead to 4-1 in the seventh, Lalli came through with a clutch hit to push the lead to 6-1 in the eighth. With the bases loaded on walks from Zack Burdi, Lalli lined a single to right, scoring Brignac and Rojas Jr.

Right-hander Stephen Janas (S, 1) stranded two inherited runners for Jenkins in the eighth and worked a perfect ninth to end the game. Janas struck out Vinny Rottino looking, got Eddy Alvarez to fly out to right and fanned Leury Garcia swinging.

Lalli went 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs to lead Gwinnett's 10-hit attack. Bonifacio went 2-for-5 with a run scored and Brignac went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the G-Braves.

Delmonico went 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and an RBI for the Knights. Blake Smith tossed 3.0 scoreless innings between Loe and Burdi, and Brad Goldberg pitched a scoreless top of the ninth.

The G-Braves are off on Tuesday before traveling to Columbus, OH, to open the 2016 Governors' Cup Playoffs against the IL West Division champion Columbus Clippers. Game 1 of the best-of-five first-round series is Wednesday, September 7 at Huntington Park, first pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. Gwinnett will host Game 3 at Coolray Field on Friday, September 9 at 7:05 p.m.

Tickets for Game 3 and Games 4-5 (if necessary) are on sale now at the Coolray Field Ticket Office, call 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets to purchase.

Check out the Gwinnett Stripers Statistics



International League Stories from September 5, 2016


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.

Other Recent Gwinnett Stripers Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central