Knights' Early Homers Hand Stripers 5-4 Loss

Kyle Wright allows five runs over 4.0 innings in first start for Gwinnett

Wright pitched 4.0 innings and gave up five runs in his first start with Gwinnett in 2019. (Jamie Spaar/Gwinnett Stripers)

By Peter Brooks

April 17, 2019

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Back-to-back home runs by D.J. Peterson and Matt Skole highlighted a five-run first inning for the Charlotte Knights (9-5), who defeated the Gwinnett Stripers (7-6) by a 5-4 score on Wednesday night at Coolray Field.

Scoring Recap: Charlotte scored all five runs in the first inning off Kyle Wright, who made his first start of the season for Gwinnett. Zack Collins laced a two-run single, and Peterson (3) and Skole (4) each homered. Down 5-0 in the second inning, the Stripers got on the board with a sacrifice fly from Travis Demeritte and an RBI single from Ryan LaMarre. In the fifth, LaMarre led off with a triple and scored on an RBI groundout from Luis Marté to cut the deficit to 5-3. Later in the fifth, Rafael Ortega tripled and scored on a single by Austin Riley to make it 5-4. Gwinnett had only one hit the rest of the way, however, falling short of a comeback.
Stripers Stats: Wright (L, 0-1) settled down after the first inning, but ended the night with five runs on seven hits over 4.0 innings. Andres Santiago, Elian Leyva, and Corbin Clouse combined on 5.0 scoreless innings in relief. LaMarre and Adam Duvall each had two hits.
Knights Stats: Starter Jordan Stephens (W, 1-2) yielded four runs on five hits over 6.0 innings. Ian Hamilton (S, 1) struck out two in a scoreless ninth. Collins went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Peterson went 1-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs.
Quote: "We gave up five in the first, Kyle didn't have his best stuff," Stripers Manager Damon Berryhill said. "He battled and gave us three good innings. I was proud of the way we battled offensively."
Postgame Notes: LaMarre is hitting .583 (7-for-12) with six RBIs in three games on the current homestand. Duvall extended his team-best on-base streak to 11 games.
Next Game (Thursday, April 18): Gwinnett vs. Charlotte, 10:35 a.m. at Coolray Field. TBD for the Stripers vs. TBD for the Knights. Radio Broadcast: 10:20 a.m. on 97.7 and 93.5 FM "The Other Side of the River."