Stripers Get Back Over .500 With 5-2 Win

Drew Waters homers for the third straight game in victory over Norfolk

Drew Waters hit an opposite field homer for his third home run in as many games in Gwinnett's 5-2 win over Norfolk on Saturday night. (Patricia Ortiz/Gwinnett Stripers)

July 24, 2021

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Drew Waters robbed a home run and smashed one of his own as the Gwinnett Stripers (36-35) clinched a series victory with a 5-2 win over the Norfolk Tides (25-41) on Saturday night at Coolray Field. Decisive Play:Alex Jackson smacked an RBI single into the right field

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Drew Waters robbed a home run and smashed one of his own as the Gwinnett Stripers (36-35) clinched a series victory with a 5-2 win over the Norfolk Tides (25-41) on Saturday night at Coolray Field.

Decisive Play:**Alex Jackson* smacked an RBI single into the right field corner off Dean Kremer (L, 0-4) that scored *Cristian Pache* to give Gwinnett a 3-2 lead in the third inning. Waters’ seventh-inning solo homer (8) and an RBI fielder’s choice by *Travis Snider** raised the Stripers’ lead to 5-2 in the seventh.

Key Contributors: Yolmer Sánchez hit a two-run single to put Gwinnett on the scoreboard first in the second inning. On top of the home run, Waters also made a leaping catch to rob Stevie Wilkerson of a two-run homer in the fourth and keep the lead at 3-2. Trevor Kelley (W, 1-2) retired all six batters he faced while striking out four over 2.0 innings. A.J. Minter (S, 2) worked a perfect ninth for his second save in as many opportunities.

Noteworthy: Waters has homered in three-straight games and now has 15 extra-base hits this month (nine doubles, one triple, five home runs). The Stripers have won 10 of their last 11 games to go above the .500 mark for the first time since June 22 (21-20). William Contreras extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single, but saw his six-game RBI streak come to an end.

Next Game (Sunday, July 25): *Gwinnett vs. Norfolk, 1:05 p.m. at Coolray Field (Sunday Funday with postgame kids run the bases, presented by Georgia United Credit Union). RHP *Tanner Roark (2-1, 2.93 ERA) for the Stripers vs. RHP Claudio Custodio (1-0, 3.00 ERA) for the Tides. Radio Broadcast: 12:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com.