NORFOLK, VA - A two-out RBI single by Rio Ruiz snapped a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning and sent the Gwinnett Stripers to a 4-3 win over the Norfolk Tides Saturday at Harbor Park.
NORFOLK, VA - A two-out RBI single by Rio Ruiz snapped a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning and sent the Gwinnett Stripers to a 4-3 win over the Norfolk Tides Saturday at Harbor Park.
Facing right-hander Francisco Jimenez (L, 0-1) in the seventh, Sean Kazmar Jr. reached on a throwing error by Tides third baseman Drew Dosch with one out. Chris Stewart then walked and Michael Reed reached on a fielder's choice to put runners at the corners. Ruiz sent a line drive over the head of second baseman Rubén Tejada, plating Kazmar from third.
Gwinnett had a 3-0 lead through four innings as Reed and Kazmar each lifted sacrifice flies and Rob Brantly reached on an RBI fielder's choice. Norfolk battled back to tie the game, however, scoring a pair of runs off right-hander Lucas Sims and adding an unearned run against right-hander Elian Leyva over the fifth and sixth innings.
Sims extended his scoreless innings streak to a Stripers rotation-best 18.1 innings before loading the bases and allowing a sacrifice fly to Renato Núñez in the fifth. Sims came back out for the sixth and was greeted by a single from Garabez Rosa and double from Mike Yastrzemski before exiting. Rosa tried to score on the double, but was thrown out at the plate as right fielder Xavier Avery hit cutoff man Phil Gosselin, who fired a strike to the catcher Stewart.
Leyva replaced Sims and allowed Yastrzemski to score from third on a grounder to short by Andrew Susac. Susac reached on a throwing error by Kazmar on the play, then came around to score the tying run on a double by Tejada.
Despite blowing the save, Leyva (W, 1-1) rebounded with four strikeouts over the next two innings to hold the 4-3 lead. Right-hander Jacob Webb (S, 4) retired the side in order with one strikeout in the ninth.
Sims fell short of a quality start in a no-decision, working 5.1 innings with two earned runs on seven hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Left-hander John Means pitched 6.0 innings with three earned runs on six hits for the Tides.
Offensively for Gwinnett, Avery went 3-for-3 with a run scored for his second consecutive three-hit game. Kazmar went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Tejada was 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and RBI for Norfolk. Yastrzemski also doubled and scored, finishing 1-for-4.
The Stripers (40-52) wrap up the four-game series against the Tides (47-43) on Sunday at Harbor Park. Right-hander Wes Parsons (4-2, 2.98 ERA) is set to start for Gwinnett, while Baltimore Orioles' right-hander Chris Tillman (0-1, 8.38 ERA) is scheduled to make a rehab start for Norfolk. First pitch is 4:05 p.m. Dave Lezotte has the play-by-play call on 97.7 and 93.5 FM "The Other Side of the River" beginning at 3:35 p.m.
