LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Sean Newcomb pitched 7.0 innings of two-run baseball and Raffy Lopez went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs to lead the Gwinnett Stripers (10-9) over the Indianapolis Indians (10-8) by a 7-6 score on Wednesday night at Coolray Field.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Sean Newcomb pitched 7.0 innings of two-run baseball and Raffy Lopez went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs to lead the Gwinnett Stripers (10-9) over the Indianapolis Indians (10-8) by a 7-6 score on Wednesday night at Coolray Field.
Scoring Recap:Ryan LaMarre (1) launched a 411-foot leadoff home run on the first pitch of the game from JT Brubaker to give the Stripers a 1-0 lead in the first inning. In the second, the Indians tied it up at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly from Jake Elmore. Gwinnett regained the lead at 3-1 in the fifth on a 376-foot two-run homer from Andrés Blanco (4) off Brubaker. In the sixth, an RBI double by Lopez, RBI single by Travis Demeritte, and sacrifice fly by Luis Marté opened up a 6-1 Stripers' advantage. In the seventh, Steven Baron (1) hit a solo homer off Newcomb to cut the lead to 6-2. Lopez extended the lead to 7-2 with another RBI double in the seventh. Indianapolis made it 7-5 in the eighth on a three-run blast by Patrick Kivlehan (2) off Elian Leyva, and 7-6 in the ninth on a pinch-hit RBI single by Alfredo Reyes.
Stripers Stats: Newcomb (W, 1-1) worked 7.0 innings with two runs on six hits and seven strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season. Thomas Burrows (S, 4) allowed an unearned run in the ninth inning but still earned the save. LaMarre went 3-for-3 with a homer, run scored, RBI and stolen base. Sean Kazmar Jr. and Lopez had two hits apiece.
Indians Stats: Brubaker (L, 2-1) yielded three runs on four hits - including two homers - over 5.0 innings. Kivlehan went 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs scored and three RBIs.
Quote: "I felt good," Lopez said. "I was trying to stay relaxed and hit the ball to left-center. Hitting coach Bobby Magallanes has been great for me. He has been helping my approach and my mechanics and it's a big credit to him."
Postgame Notes: LaMarre's leadoff home run was the Stripers' fourth of the year (Rafael Ortega has the other three). Blanco has reached base safely in 13-straight games since April 8. Newcomb recorded the first quality start for a Gwinnett starting pitcher in 2019, snapping an 18-game drought to start the season.
Next Game (Thursday, April 25): Gwinnett vs. Indianapolis, 12:05 p.m. at Coolray Field. LHP Kolby Allard (1-1, 4.05 ERA) for the Stripers vs. RHP Eduardo Vera (0-1, 3.38 ERA) for the Indians. Radio Broadcast: 11:50 a.m. on 97.7 and 93.5 FM "The Other Side of the River."
