IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Stripers Hang on for 7-6 Win vs. Durham

Published on July 30, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Gwinnett Stripers took a Monday night barn burner from the Durham Bulls by a score of 7-6, winning the opening game of a four-game series at Coolray Field.

Luis Marte delivered the game-winning hit in the seventh inning when he plated Preston Tucker from second base with a single to left. Tucker had led off the inning with a single and moved up on a Jonathan Morales single against Chih-Wei Hu.

The game originally appeared to be a runaway for the Stripers as they held a 6-1 advantage behind right-hander Touki Toussaint, who allowed the run on a Rob Refsnyder infield single in the second inning.

Gwinnett jumped out to a lead in the first as Marte led off with a triple and scored a batter later on a Danny Santana single. Austin Riley was then hit by a pitch from Bulls' starter Forrest Snow and Rio Ruiz drove in Santana with a single. An Alex Jackson sacrifice fly boosted the score to 3-0.

It was 5-1 after two innings with RBI singles from Tucker and Santana, and 6-1 in the third after Carlos Franco hit a 442-foot home run (14) to left-center. Snow was done after 3.0 innings with seven hits and six earned runs allowed.

Toussaint got through the first-place Bulls' lineup fairly routinely, though his pitch count was elevated over the first few innings. He finished after 5.0 innings of three-hit, one-run ball with one walk and three strikeouts.

Durham hopped on Chad Bell for five hits and five runs in the sixth to tie the game, capped by Kean Wong's game-tying two-run single. Fernando Salas came on to retire Andrew Velazquez for the last out of the inning to keep the score 6-6.

It was Marte's heroics in the seventh that gave the Stripers the 7-6 win, with the benefit of 1.1 scoreless innings from Salas (W, 1-1), and 1.0 scoreless inning from both Chad Sobotka (H, 1) and Evan Phillips (S, 8).

Marte's two-hit night marked his 10th multi-hit effort in 17 games with Gwinnett. Santana was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs, while Tucker was also 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

For Durham, Wong was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and Nick Ciuffo was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Hu (L, 3-7) worked 4.0 innings, giving up three hits and the winning run while striking out four.

Gwinnett looks to keep the momentum going against the Bulls Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. as highly-touted right-hander Kyle Wright is scheduled to make his Triple-A debut for the Stripers. Righty Zach Lee (3-2, 3.17 ERA) gets the nod for Durham. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 and 93.5 FM "The Other Side of the River" beginning at 6:35 p.m.

Check out the Gwinnett Stripers Statistics

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International League Stories from July 30, 2018


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