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IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Mendez Goes Deep Twice In R-Braves 8-1 Victory

May 13, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


DURHAM, NC - The Richmond Braves shutout the Durham Bulls 8-1 on Sunday evening. The Braves improved to 24-9 and extended their lead in the IL South Division to nine and half games ahead of Durham . The Bulls dropped to 17-21 on the season. The Braves, who have won three-straight games, ensured themselves a series victory in the four-game set. It was the fourth time that the Braves picked up three or more consecutive victories this season. Richmond is now 7-1-2 in ten series this season.

Carlos Mendez got the Braves going in the fifth inning when he took a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall to give Richmond an early 1-0 lead. After Mendez went deep, Corky Miller was hit by a pitch, which was followed by back-to-back singles from Wes Timmons and Gregor Blanco. Miller was plated on Blanco's RBI single to make it a 2-0 Richmond lead. The next batter, Martin Prado then reached on a fielding error by the Bulls' left fielder Justin Ruggiano. Both Timmons and Blanco came home to make it 4-0, before Prado was thrown out at third attempting to advance.

The Braves picked up right where they left off in the sixth inning. Doug Clark picked up a one-out single to right and later scored on T.J. Bohn's fifth double of the season to give the Braves a 5-0 lead. Bohn then stole third and later came home on wild pitch by Bulls' starter Jeff Niemann. New acquired, Graham Koonce added to the onslaught with a solo home run, his second homer in as many games with Richmond, to put the Braves up 7-0.

Carlos Mendez came up with the exclamation point when he blasted his second home run of the game, a solo-shot to left field to give the Braves an 8-0 lead.

Durham scored a late run in the bottom of the ninth to avoid the shutout. The Bulls' Brent Butler came home on a passed ball by Braves' catcher Corky Miller, to put Durham on the board.

Carlos Mendez exploded with a pair of homeruns. Mendez has been on fire recently and is 5-for-12 in the first three-games of the series. Yunel Escobar's first-inning single extended his hit-streak to seven-games. Eight of the Braves starters recorded a hit and all nine reached base safely in the 8-1 win.

Atlanta Braves' Mark Redman made a rehab start for the R-Braves and picked up his first win of the season. He pitched five and two-thirds scoreless-innings and recorded six strikeouts and allowed just two walks. Phil Stockman, who was activated from the disabled list earlier in the day, pitched one and one-third scoreless innings. Will Startup added another one and one-third scoreless innings before the Bulls finally scored an unearned run in Manny Acosta's one inning of work.

The Bulls' Jeff Niemann allowed five earned in his five and one-third innings and picked up the loss. Niemann dropped to 3-2 with a 4.10 ERA. Durham reliever's Jeff Ridgeway (0ER, 1.2IP) and Tony Peguero (1ER, 2.0IP) each saw action in Bulls' loss.

The Braves look to pick up the four-game sweep in the series finale against the Bulls on Monday in a 1:00 p.m. matinee. Richmond is scheduled to start Macay McBride (1-1, 3.00 ERA) to face Durham starter Andy Sonnanstine (4-2, 2.17 ERA). The countdown to 10,000,000 fans at The Diamond resumes on Tuesday, when the Braves return home for nine games in 10 days. The Diamond, in its 23rd year, needs just 93,435 fans to reach the milestone.

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