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IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

Walks Doom G-Braves in 7-6, 10-inning Loss

April 16, 2015 - International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - Gwinnett Braves' second baseman Jose Peraza won the battle of top prospects Thursday at Coolray Field, but the G-Braves (3-5) lost the game 7-6 to the Charlotte Knights (5-3) in 10 innings.

Gwinnett led 4-2 into the eighth inning, but an error, four hits and six walks combined from four Gwinnett relievers turned the two-run lead into a three-run deficit in three innings.

After left-hander Donnie Veal started the eighth inning with back-to-back strikeouts, the Knights used an error, a double and three walks from G-Braves' right-handed reliever Aaron Kurcz (BS, 1) tied the game at four runs apiece.

Righty Carlos Fisher worked a scoreless ninth, but fellow righty Kanekoa Texeira (L, 0-2) walked two hitters and gave up a single to Carlos Sanchez before Trayce Thompson drove in two runs with a double to center field to put Charlotte on top 6-4. The Knights' final run came on a sacrifice fly to deep right field by Engel Beltre against G-Braves' starting first baseman Barrett Kleinknecht, who made his fifth career pitching appearance with one out in the inning after Texeira left because of an apparent injury.

The G-Braves nearly came back in the bottom of the 10th. Adonis Garcia led off the frame with a single, and Joe Benson doubled him home with one out. Benson came around to score on a sacrifice fly to right by Kleinknecht. Gwinnett had runners on second and third with two outs when Peraza grounded out to shortstop to end the game in 3 hours, 42 minutes. Eric Surkamp (W, 1-0) pitched 2.0 scoreless innings and Daniel Webb (S, 1) worked around two runs in the bottom of the 10th.

The Gwinnett pitching staff combined to walk a season-high 10 batters, and six came in the final three innings. The first half of the game saw the G-Braves establish a three-run lead and Peraza pick up a pair of hits in his first two at-bats.

With Chicago White Sox No. 1 prospect, left-handed starter Carlos Rodon on the mound, Atlanta Braves' top-ranked prospect Peraza drilled a ball into the right-center field gap in the second inning for the G-Braves' first triple of the season to score Kleinknecht and put Gwinnett on top 3-0.

Peraza was also part of the G-Braves' first rally against the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft. Peraza laid down a bunt single in the opening frame and scored on a single by Benson to give Gwinnett a 2-0 lead. That followed an RBI single from Garcia to score Eury Perez, who Rodon walked to lead off the inning.

The G-Braves tallied six hits off of Rodon in his 5.0 innings of work with two walks against four strikeouts. Peraza, meanwhile, finished 2-for-5 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.

Gwinnett right-handed starter Williams Perez took a 3-0 lead into the sixth with three hits allowed, two walks and three strikeouts. Charlotte got one man on base in each of the first five innings but none with fewer than two outs against Double-A Mississippi's 2014 Pitcher of the Year.

That trend ended in the sixth when Perez walked the first two hitters and gave up a run-scoring double to Trayce Thompson that cut the lead to 3-1.

Left-hander Ian Thomas followed Perez in the sixth with no outs runners on second and third, but he struck out each of the three batters he faced to end the threat and preserve Gwinnett's two-run lead. Since his promotion from Mississippi to Gwinnett on Monday, Thomas has stranded all four of his inherited runners with one hit and no runs allowed in 3.1 innings through two outings.

Gwinnett tacked on a run the seventh against left-handed reliever Zach Phillips. Perez reached on a one-out single and was awarded second on a throwing error by Sanchez. He took third on a groundout to second by Peraza and scored on a wild pitch unleashed by Phillips.

The G-Braves and Knights will shift their series to Charlotte for the next three games. The opener is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Friday at BB&T Ballpark. Right-hander Matt Wisler (0-0, 0.00 ERA), the Braves' No. 2 prospect according to MLB.com, will start on the mound for the G-Braves against fellow righty Scott Carroll (0-1, 4.50 ERA) of Charlotte. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM.

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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