LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - A two-run home run by Danny Santana highlighted a three-run third inning, powering the Gwinnett Stripers to a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Bisons Thursday in the opener of a four-game series at Coolray Field.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - A two-run home run by Danny Santana highlighted a three-run third inning, powering the Gwinnett Stripers to a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Bisons Thursday in the opener of a four-game series at Coolray Field.
The win was Gwinnett's fourth straight and 24th in its last 35 games since July 5.
The Stripers struck first, scoring three runs off Bisons right-hander Brandon Cumpton in the third inning. Luis Marté drilled a double off the wall in left to score Chris Stewart, and Santana followed with a 390-foot homer (14) to right-center. His second blast of the homestand made it 3-0.
Left-hander Luiz Gohara, working on a limited pitch count in his first start since July 29, threw 54 pitches over 3.2 scoreless, one-hit frames. He walked one and struck out three.
Lefty Philip Pfeifer got the final out of the fourth, but yielded a pair of unearned runs in the fifth. Billy McKinney reached on a throwing error by second baseman Sean Kazmar Jr.Tim Lopes singled, and both Reese McGuire and Darnell Sweeney tallied sacrifice flies to cut Gwinnett's lead to 3-2.
The Stripers extended the lead to 4-2 against Cumpton in the fifth as Austin Riley laced a two-out double down the right-field line and scored on a double into the left-center gap by Rio Ruiz.
Pfeifer (W, 1-2) exited after 1.1 innings with two unearned runs on one hit, one walk and one strikeout. Right-hander Miguel Socolovich (H, 4), rehabbing Atlanta Braves' left-hander Sam Freeman (H, 1) and right-hander Jacob Webb (S, 9) combined on 4.0 scoreless, two-hit innings to finish the game.
Cumpton (L, 2-3) yielded four runs on eight hits over 5.0 innings for Buffalo. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the No. 1 prospect in baseball according to MLB.com, went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles to lead the Bisons' offense.
Gwinnett was led at the plate by Riley, who went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Marte went 2-for-3 with a double, run scored and RBI. Santana's homer was his lone hit in a 1-for-4, two-RBI effort. Dustin Peterson went 0-for-4 to snap his 30-game on-base streak and 11-game hitting streak.
The Stripers (59-61) and Bisons (56-64) play game two of the four-game series on Friday at Coolray Field, first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Gwinnett's starting pitcher has yet to be officially announced, while Buffalo will start right-hander Murphy Smith (2-4, 3.97 ERA). 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.
