G-Braves Roast IronPigs, 5-1
ALLENTOWN, PA - The Gwinnett Braves (14-15) erupted for four runs in the top of the eighth inning and coasted to a 5-1 win over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (9-21) Saturday night in game two of the three-game series at Coca-Cola Park.
Most of the game was a pitching duel between Gwinnett's Greg Smith and Lehigh Valley starter and former Kell High School (Marietta) star Adam Morgan.
However, the G-Braves did take the early lead when Eury Perez led off the game with a solo home run to left off of Morgan. Perez's first blast of the season made it 1-0 Gwinnett.
Lehigh Valley tied the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the second off of Smith. Russ Canzler led off the inning with a double to right. G-Braves' right fielder Joe Benson misplayed the ball, allowing Canzler to move to third. The next batter, Jordan Danks, lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Canzler to tie the game at 1-1.
The IronPigs threatened to break the tie in the bottom of the seventh against Gwinnett reliever Mitchell Boggs. Canzler and Danks greeted Boggs with back-to-back singles, and a sacrifice bunt by Tommy Joseph moved the runners to second and third. Edgar Duran flied out to Perez in left, who then ended the inning by doubling up Canzler at the plate with a perfect throw to catcher Braeden Schlehuber.
With the game still knotted at 1-1, the big inning for Gwinnett was still ahead. In the top of the eighth, Jose Peraza struck out, but made it safely to first base on a passed ball charged to catcher Joseph. Todd Cunningham walked, forcing the IronPigs to bring in right-hander Seth Rosin from the bullpen. Adonis Garcia drilled Rosin's first pitch deep to left for a double, scoring Peraza for a 2-1 lead. A wild pitch would then plate Cunningham from third to raise the lead to 3-1. Barrett Kleinknecht singled to right-center over a pulled-in infield, scoring Garcia to make it 4-1. A walk to Daniel Castro put two on, and Schlehuber followed with a single to left, scoring Kleinknecht from second with the fifth and final run for the G-Braves.
Smith, a member of the IronPigs from 2013-14, delivered a quality start against his former team. He pitched 6.0 innings with four hits, one unearned run, one walk and two strikeouts. Boggs (W, 1-0) went 1.0 inning with two hits. David Carpenter worked a scoreless eighth with one strikeout. Donnie Veal closed out the win with a scoreless ninth.
Morgan (L, 0-4) went 7.1 innings with three hits, three runs (two earned), three walks and two strikeouts for Lehigh Valley. Rosin went 0.1 of an inning with three hits, two earned runs and one walk. Adam Loewen pitched 1.1 innings with two hits and one walk.
Offensively, the G-Braves were led by Perez, who went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, run scored and RBI. Garcia extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 2-for-5 night, including his team-leading 16th RBI.
The IronPigs were led by Canzler, who was 3-for-4 with a run scored.
The G-Braves and IronPigs finish the three-game series in Allentown on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Matt Wisler (1-3, 5.86) will be on the mound for Gwinnett. Lehigh Valley will start right-hander Severino Gonzalez (1-1, 3.57). First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com beginning at 1:00 p.m.
Gwinnett's next home game is Monday, May 11 at 6:35 p.m. against the Syracuse Chiefs. To purchase tickets, call the Coolray Field Ticket Office at 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.