IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Norfolk Edges G-Braves, 4-3

April 23, 2015 - International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


NORFOLK, VA -The Norfolk Tides (9-6) held off a late rally by the Gwinnett Braves (5-9) and hung on for a 4-3 win Thursday afternoon in the finale of the four-game series at Harbor Park. The two teams split the set with all four games being decided by one run.

The Tides ran out to an early lead against Gwinnett starter Matt Wisler. In the top of the first, Julio Borbon led off with a single and moved to second on a balk. A groundout to second by Rey Navarro pushed Borbon to third, and Nolan Reimold followed with a long two-run home run to left for an early 2-0 lead.

The lead increased to 4-0 in the bottom of the third. Paul Janish led off with a single to right off of Wisler, and one out later, Navarro cracked a two-run shot to right.

In the top of the fourth, the G-Braves began their rally against Norfolk starter Eddie Gamboa. Adonis Garcia doubled to left and Pedro Ciriaco was hit by a pitch to put two on with no one out. Cedric Hunter lined a single to right, scoring Garcia to cut the deficit to 4-1. The Tides then replaced Gamboa with righty Steve Johnson out of the bullpen. He gave up a single to Elmer Reyes to right, and Ciriaco moved to third on the hit, but Hunter got hung up between second and third. As Norfolk tagged out Hunter, Ciriaco raced home to make it a 4-2 game.

In the top of the ninth, with reliever Oliver Drake on the mound, Reyes led off with a double in the left-center gap. A wild pitch moved Reyes to third, and a groundout to short by Jose Yepez plated Reyes to make it 4-3 Norfolk. The next batter, Gwinnett leadoff man Eury Perez, blooped a pitch into shallow right. Navarro ran a long way from second to try to make the catch, but the ball rolled off his glove and into foul territory. Perez ended up with a triple on the play. However, with the tying run standing 90 feet away, Drake struck out Jose Peraza to end the threat and the game.

Wisler (L, 0-2) pitched 6.0 innings with six hits and four earned runs. He struck out six. Michael Kohn worked 1.0 inning with two strikeouts and Carlos Fisher also went 1.0 inning with one walk.

Gamboa (W, 1-1) pitched 5.0 innings with seven hits, two earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts. Johnson worked 2.0 innings with one hit and one strikeout. Chaz Roe pitched a scoreless eighth with one strikeout, and Drake (S, 2) went 1.0 inning with two hits, one earned run and two strikeouts.

At the plate, the G-Braves were led by Garcia, Reyes and Hunter. Each went 2-for-4, with Hunter tallying an RBI. Perez went 1-for-3 to push his hitting streak to eight games, while Peraza went 1-for-5 to reach a four-game hitting streak.

All four Tides' runs came via the home run. Reimold was 1-for-4 with his second homer of the season, and Navarro was 2-for-4 with his first homer of the season.

The G-Braves head to Durham to begin a three-game weekend series against the Bulls at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang (0-1, 5.84 ERA) gets the start for Gwinnett. The Bulls will start right-hander Dylan Floro (2-1, 2.84 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Gwinnett's next home game is April 27 at 6:35 p.m. against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. To purchase tickets, call the Coolray Field Ticket Office at 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.

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International League Stories from April 23, 2015


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