IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Mud Hens Pound G-Braves, 8-1

Published on August 18, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


TOLEDO, OH - The Toledo Mud Hens (51-72), on the strength of a six-run first inning, whipped the Gwinnett Braves (66-58) by an 8-1 score Tuesday night in the finale of the two-game series at Fifth Third Field.

Gwinnett ends the 10-game, three-city road trip at 5-5 and remains 3.0 games in back of the Columbus Clippers in the International League Wild Card standings, as the Clippers lost to the Charlotte Knights, 3-1. However, the G-Braves are now 6.5 games behind the Norfolk Tides in the IL South because the Tides beat the Indianapolis Indians, 4-3.

It was a tough night for G-Braves' right-handed starter Victor Mateo (L, 1-2), as he was charged with all six first-inning runs on five hits with two walks while working 0.2 of an inning.

Mateo walked Daniel Fields to lead off the game and gave up a bunt single to Dixon Machado to put two on with no one out. After recording the first out, Mateo gave up a double to left to Mike Hessman, plating Fields for a 1-0 lead. The next batter, Marc Krauss, singled to right, scoring Machado and Hessman to push the lead to 3-0. Manny Pina then doubled to left-center, scoring Krauss from first for a 4-0 lead.

With two outs, former Gwinnett Braves infielder Josh Wilson cracked a two-run home run to left to make it 6-0. After he walked Alexi Casilla, Mateo was pulled in favor of right-hander Jake Brigham, who finished the inning with no further damage.

The Mud Hens eventually got to Brigham in the bottom of the fourth, as Wilson lined a single to right and scored on a triple to right center by Casilla to move the score to 7-0. With two outs, Steven Moya doubled in the gap in left-center field, scoring Casilla for an 8-0 lead.

The only Gwinnett run came in top of the fifth after Toledo left-handed starter Kyle Ryan walked Daniel Castro and Jordan Lennerton to begin the inning, and Mallex Smith drilled a one-out single to right, scoring Castro from second to make it 8-1, the eventual final.

Brigham worked 3.1 innings in relief of Mateo. He allowed three hits, two earned runs with one walk and five strikeouts. Right-hander Ryan Weber pitched 2.0 innings with three hits and one strikeout. Left-handed reliever Hunter Cervenka went 1.0 inning with one hit and one strikeout. Righty David Carpenter worked 1.0 inning with one hit and one strikeout.

For Toledo, Ryan (W, 2-9) pitched 6.2 inning with six hits, one earned run, three walks and three strikeouts. Right-handed reliever Josh Zeid worked 1.1 inning with one walk and one strikeout. Right-hander Jeff Ferrell went 1.0 inning with one hit and two strikeouts.

Smith was the top Gwinnett hitter with a 2-for-4 night and one RBI. He now has a seven-game hitting streak. Cedric Hunter extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a 1-for-4 night, and Christian Bethancourt's hitting streak ended at 10 games with an 0-for-3 night.

For the Mud Hens, Krauss and Casilla were each 2-for-3 with a run scored. Krauss had two RBIs, and Casilla had one. Wilson and Pena were each 2-for-4. Wilson scored twice and had a two-run homer.

After an off day on Wednesday, the G-Braves return to Coolray Field for a 6:35 p.m. game on Thursday night to begin a four-game series against the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. Right-hander Sugar Ray Marimon (4-4, 3.62) will start for Gwinnett. The Bats will start left-hander Brandon Finnegan (0-1, 5.79) Tony Schiavone has the call beginning at 6:00 p.m. on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com.

Check out the Gwinnett Stripers Statistics

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International League Stories from August 18, 2015


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