Fried Fans 11 in Stripers' 10-2 Win at Norfolk

NORFOLK, Va. - The Gwinnett Stripers, behind 7.0 strong innings from Max Fried and a 14-hit offensive attack, throttled the Norfolk Tides 10-2 Wednesday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series at Harbor Park.

Fried (W, 2-3) matched a career-high with 7.0 innings and set a career best with 11 strikeouts. He allowed only three hits and one earned run.
The Stripers gave Fried plenty of run support. After Norfolk right-hander Asher Wojciechowski walked Dustin Peterson with one out in the first, Michael Reed connected for his first career home run with Gwinnett, a long drive to left-center for a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the second, with Sean Kazmar Jr. on second and Xavier Avery on third, Sal Giardina drilled the first Triple-A homer of his career, a three run blast to right for a 5-0 lead. With one swing, he tied his career-high for a game with three RBIs.
The only run off Fried came in the bottom of the second as Garabez Rosa stroked a two-out double to right and scored on a single to right by Mike Yastrzemski to cut the lead to 5-1.
But the Stripers got the run back in the top of the sixth as Avery plated Rio Ruiz from third with a sacrifice fly to right.
The big inning for Gwinnett was the top of the seventh against reliever D.J. Snelten. Peterson reached on a throwing error to begin the inning, and with one out a single by Carlos Franco put two on. Ruiz singled to right, scoring Peterson to push the lead to 7-1. Franco, who moved to third on the throw, would then score on a wild pitch to make it 8-1. Avery dribbled an infield single to second, moving Ruiz to third, and Kazmar followed with a long double to center scoring both runners for a 10-1 advantage.
The other run by Norfolk came in the bottom of the eighth, when Yastrzemski scored from third on a double play ball by Cedric Mullins against reliever Rex Brothers.
Brothers worked 1.0 inning with one hit, one earned run and one walk allowed. Jacob Webb pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth in his first-ever Triple-A outing.
Wojciechowski (L, 3-3) went 5.2 innings with eight hits, six earned runs, one walk allowed with four strikeouts. Snelten worked 1.0 inning with four hits and four runs (one earned) with one strikeout. Matt Wotherspoon tossed 2.1 innings with two hits and three strikeouts.
At the plate, the Stripers were led by Reed who was 3-for-5 with the homer, boosting his average to .421 in 12 games with Gwinnett thus far. Kazmar was 2-for-4 with a run, two doubles and two RBIs. Giardina was also 2-for-4 with the homer. Ruiz and Franco were each 2-for-5.
For the Tides, Rosa was 1-for-3 with a run, and Yastrzemski was 1-for-1 with a run and an RBI.
The Stripers (28-35) continue their road trip Thursday at 7:05 p.m. in Durham for the first game of a four-game set. Lefty Kolby Allard (4-2, 2.22) will start for Gwinnett, while the Bulls' starting pitcher has not been announced. 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.