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IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Stripers Fall to Norfolk Before Sellout July 4 Crowd

July 4, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Norfolk Tides tallied 18 hits to beat the Gwinnett Stripers 10-5 in front of an Independence Day sellout of 9,972 at Coolray Field. It was the 13th-largest attendance in the stadium's 10-year history.

Norfolk plated runs in each of the first four frames to take a commanding 7-3 lead.

In the first inning, the Tides loaded the bases against right-hander Matt Wisler. With two outs, Mike Yastrzemski hit an RBI double down the right field line to make it 2-0.

Gwinnett quickly evened the score in the bottom of the first as they also loaded the bases against righty Matt Wotherspoon. Carlos Franco hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate Phil Gosselin, then Dustin Peterson grounded to short to bring Rio Ruiz home and tie it at 2-2.

The Tides took the lead right back, however, as they put runners on second and third via an Adrian Marin single and a Cedric Mullins double. Renato Nunez hit a sacrifice fly to give Norfolk a 3-2 lead.

Two more came in the third from an Andrew Susac RBI single and a Ruben Tejada sacrifice fly. In the fourth, Nunez blew the game open with a two-run home run (3) to left to make it 7-2.

Wisler (L, 2-4) was done after 4.0 innings, allowing seven earned runs and one walk. His 11 hits allowed were the most by a Stripers starter this season.

The Stripers got a run back in the bottom of the fourth as Preston Tucker tripled into the gap and scored a batter later on a Rob Brantly sacrifice fly, making it 7-3.

But Norfolk's unrelenting offensive barrage continued in the sixth and seventh innings as Garabez Rosa hit an RBI single and Mullins hit an RBI double, respectively.

Down 9-3, the Stripers scored two more in the seventh. Tyler Smith and Sal Giardina led off with back-to-back singles, then Ruiz hit a one-out RBI single. Franco followed two batters later with an RBI single of his own to make it 9-5.

Tejada picked up an RBI single in the eighth off Elian Leyva to extend the lead to 10-5. The Stripers couldn't mount a rally in the final two stanzas.

For the Tides, Wotherspoon went 4.0 innings with four hits, three earned runs and one walk allowed with seven strikeouts. Andrew Faulkner relieved him for 2.1 innings with four hits and two runs (one earned) given up. Joely Rodriguez (W, 5-3) worked a clean final 2.2 innings with two hits and three strikeouts.

Connor Johnstone allowed one run on two hits and three walks over 2.0 innings in relief of Wisler. Leyva followed with 2.0 innings and four hits, two earned runs and a walk. Chad Bell worked a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Ruiz was 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Franco was 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Smith and Giardina tacked on two hits apiece.

Mullins was 3-for-6 with two doubles and an RBI and a run for Norfolk. Nunez was 3-for-5 with the homer and three RBIs. Pedro Alvarez and Rosa also added three hits each.

The Stripers (35-50) and Tides (44-39) meet in the finale of the two-game series on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Touki Toussaint makes his Triple-A debut for Gwinnett, while rehabbing Baltimore Orioles' righty Chris Tillman (0-0, 12.27 ERA) starts for Norfolk. Tony Schiavone will have the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and 93.5 FM The Other Side of the River beginning at 6:35 p.m.

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