Stripers Drop Second Straight Day Game in Omaha

Leury Garcia homers and drives in two, but Gwinnett loses 7-2

Leury Garcia homered and drove in both of Gwinnett's runs on Wednesday in Omaha. (Paul Daniel)

By Dave Lezotte (@davelezotte)

April 10, 2024

PAPILLION, Neb. – Leury Garcia belted his first home run with Gwinnett and drove in two runs, but for the second straight day the Stripers (6-5) couldn’t quiet the Omaha bats in a 7-2 loss to the Storm Chasers (7-4) at Werner Park. Decisive Plays: J.P. Martinez led off the

PAPILLION, Neb. – Leury Garcia belted his first home run with Gwinnett and drove in two runs, but for the second straight day the Stripers (6-5) couldn’t quiet the Omaha bats in a 7-2 loss to the Storm Chasers (7-4) at Werner Park.

Decisive Plays: J.P. Martinez led off the game with a double and scored on Garcia’s sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Gwinnett advantage was canceled out in the bottom of the second on Cam Devanney’s solo homer off AJ Smith-Shawver (L, 0-1). Omaha took the lead for good with two runs in the third highlighted by a go-ahead RBI double from Michael Massey. CJ Alexander and Nate Eaton each added RBI doubles and Brian O’Keefe slugged a solo homer to make it 6-1. Garcia’s solo drive (1) to right field brought the Stripers to within 6-2 in the eighth, but the Storm Chasers answered with a run in the bottom half.

Key Contributors: Garcia (2-for-3, homer, 2 RBIs), Martinez (2-for-4, double, run), and Phillip Evans (2-for-4) all had multi-hit days for Gwinnett. Every single member of Omaha’s lineup had at least one hit, led by Devanney (2-for-4, double, homer, RBI) and O’Keefe (1-for-5, homer, 2 RBIs). Former Braves farmhand Andrew Hoffmann (W, 1-1) pitched 5.0 one-run innings for the Storm Chasers.

Noteworthy: Martinez has now led off the game with a hit five times in eight games (2 singles, 2 doubles, 1 triple). Garcia has a six-game hitting streak dating back to April 4, batting .476 (10-for-21, 2 doubles, 1 homer, 4 RBIs, 1.233 OPS) in that span.

Next Game (T**hurs**day, April 11**):* Gwinnett at Omaha, 7:35 p.m. ET at Werner Park. LHP *Dylan Dodd** (2-0, 1.54 ERA) for the Stripers vs. LHP Daniel Lynch IV (1-0, 4.50 ERA) for the Storm Chasers. Broadcast: 7:20 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com.

Next Home Game (Tuesday, April 16): Gwinnett vs. Memphis, 7:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. It's T-Shirt Tuesday (presented by Coolray Heating & Cooling) at Coolray Field as the Stripers will give away limited edition green Stripers shirseys of former Gwinnett star and current Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley.