Lawrenceville, GA --- Wes Parsons carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning of the opener, while Danny Santana clubbed a third home run in three games against Durham to snap a game two tie to lead Gwinnett to a doubleheader sweep over the Bulls on Wednesday night at Coolray Field.Trailing
Lawrenceville, GA --- Wes Parsons carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning of the opener, while Danny Santana clubbed a third home run in three games against Durham to snap a game two tie to lead Gwinnett to a doubleheader sweep over the Bulls on Wednesday night at Coolray Field.
Trailing 9-0 in the sixth, Joe McCarthy broke up Parsons' gem on an infield chopper that was deflected off of Parsons' glove. Durham (27-17) scored three times in the seventh on a run-scoring double by Micah Johnson and a two-run single from Jake Bauers.
Nathan Eovaldi (L, 0-1) suffered the loss in a major league rehab start for the Bulls. After Eovaldi retired the side in order in the first inning, touching 100 mph on a fastball, the Stripers (18-26) batted around in the second, scoring five times on six hits. Eovaldi then permitted three more runs in the fourth on four more hits, including the first of two home runs by Santana on the night. Eovaldi worked 71 pitches over four innings, yielding 10 hits and eight runs to take the loss.
In the nightcap, Gwinnett again jumped on the Bulls early, scoring four times in the first against Ryan Weber (L, 0-1). Carlos Franco doubled against the right-centerfield wall to give the Stripers the lead, but then an error by second baseman Micah Johnson allowed another run to score. After a throwing error by catcher Roberto Peña on a stolen base attempt brought in a third run, Xavier Avery stroked a single to right to cap a four-run inning.
After being blanked through four, the Bulls' offense awoke in the fifth to tie the game. Two walks and a hit by Kean Wong filled the bases before a pitching change. Johnson legged out a would-be double play ball to get durham on the board at 4-1. A wild pitch by Chad Bell scored a second run, then afer a deep flyout by Pena to the left field track, Jeremy Hazelbaker and Jason Coats delivered run-scoring singles to tie the game.
But in the bottom of the fifth, Santana struck again. After homering on Monday night and in game one earlier Wednesday, Santana clubbed a 1-1 pitch from Weber over the right-centerfield wall to give Gwinnett a 5-4 lead.
Weber permitted five runs (two earned) over 4 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Clayton, North Carolina native Evan Phillips nailed down his second save by whiffing four over two innings.
The series concludes Thursday at 12:05 PM ET with Forrest Snow opposing Gwinnett's Kolby Allard..
