Career Nights Lead Gwinnett Past Toledo, 11-4

TOLEDO, OH- The Gwinnett Braves (39-36), behind a 16 hit attack and a strong outing from starting pitcher Lucas Sims , trounced the Toledo Mud Hens 11-4 on Monday night in game one of the four-game series at Fifth Third Field.
 
Sims (W, 6-3) tossed his second straight quality start by going 6.0 innings with seven hits, three earned runs and one walk. He also struck out 11, tying his career-high, which was originally set in Toledo on April 28, 2016. Offensively, Carlos Franco went 4-for-5 with two home runs and four runs scored. His two homers tied a career-high set on July 20, 2014 with Class-A Rome at West Virginia while he established new career-highs in runs and hits. Ozzie Albies also tied a career-high with four RBIs from the leadoff spot.
 
Sims gave up an early run as JaCoby Jones (6) drilled a one-out solo homer to right-center in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 Toledo lead. But that would be the Mud Hens' only lead of the game.
 
Gwinnett tied the game in the top of the second as Franco (4) crushed a deep homer to left-center to lead off the inning. Later in the inning, an RBI single to center by Albies scored Xavier Avery for a 2-1 G-Braves lead. The hit also extended Albies on-base streak to a team-best 24 games.
 
However, it was over the next two innings where the G-Braves put the game out of reach. In the top of the fourth, they sent all nine men to the plate against Toledo starting pitcher Drew VerHagen and scored four runs to push the lead to 6-1. A two out, two RBI double by Avery made it 4-1, then an RBI triple by Albies upped the lead to 5-1 and Dustin Peterson struck an RBI single to left for a 6-1 lead to cap the scoring for the inning.
 
Sims gave up a solo homer to Jason Krizan (2) in the bottom of the fourth, which cut Gwinnett's lead to 6-2. But the following at-bat, the G-Braves again sent nine to the plate and again scored four more runs. Franco (5) greeted reliever Kyle Ryan with his second homer of the game, a solo shot to left-center for a 7-1 lead. Later in the inning, a bases-loaded, two RBI single to center by Albies made it 9-2 and an RBI single to right by Peterson increased the G-Braves lead to 10-2. The final Gwinnett run came in the top of the sixth when David Freitas plated Franco from third with a sac fly for an 11-2 advantage.
 
The Mud Hens added two late runs, one in the bottom of the sixth off Sims and another in the bottom of the seventh off Mauricio Cabrera , but could not get any closer.
 
Cabrera started the seventh in place of Sims and went 1.0 inning with three hits, one earned run, two walks and one strikeout. Enrique Burgos pitched the final 2.0 innings with one walk and four strikeouts.
 
VerHagen (L, 5-5) went 4.0 innings with nine hits, six earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts. Ryan gave up four hits and four earned runs in one inning of work with one walk and one strikeout. Logan Kensing pitched 1.0 inning with three hits, one earned run and two strikeouts. Edward Mujica worked 1.0 inning with one strikeout. Miguel González pitched the final 2.0 innings with one strikeout.
 
The 16 hit Gwinnett outburst was paced by Franco's career night. Albies was 3-for-6 with one run, a triple while his four RBIs tied a career-high set on May 9, 2015 for Rome vs. Hagerstown. Peterson, Rio Ruiz , Kyle Kubitza  and Avery each had two hits in the win.
 
For the Mud Hens, Krizan was 2-for-5 with a solo homer. Michael Almanzar went 2-for-4 with a run.
 
The G-Braves and Mud Hens meet in game two of the four-game series on Tuesday night. Right-hander Matt Wisler (3-4, 4.39) will start for Gwinnett. Left-hander Matthew Boyd (3-0, 3.33) is set to get the call for the Mud Hens. First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM "The Other Side of the River" beginning at 6:35 p.m.
 
The Gwinnett Braves return to Coolray Field on Tuesday, July 4 to begin a six-game homestand. Game one of a three-game series vs. Norfolk begins at 7:05 p.m. For tickets, call 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.