Stripers Take Series in Buffalo With 9-5 Win Thursday

BUFFALO, NY - The Gwinnett Stripers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Buffalo Bisons 9-5 Thursday night in the finale of a three-game series at Coca-Cola Park.

Trailing by two in the top of the sixth, Gwinnett sent 10 men to the plate against Bisons reliever Taylor Guerrieri, scoring four times for a 5-3 lead at the inning's end. The big blow a two-run single by Phil Gosselin to give the Stripers a 4-3 lead.
After a long solo homer to left by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2) in the bottom of the sixth closed the gap to 5-4, the Stripers scored three more in the top of the seventh off Craig Breslow to push the lead to 8-4. Alex Jackson hit a two-run homer (3) in the inning.
Reliever Fernando Salas gave up a run to the Bisons in the bottom of the eighth on a Rowdy Tellez single to cut the Gwinnett lead to 8-5, but the Stripers got that run right back in the top of the ninth as Carlos Franco led off with a double off Justin Shafer and later scored on an error for a 9-5 final.
Stripers scored in their very first at-bat of the game off Buffalo left-hander Matt Tracy. Luis Marté led off with a single, stole second, and scored on a single to center by Dustin Peterson. The hit pushed Peterson's on-base streak to a team-high 24 games.
Buffalo tied the game in the bottom of the second as a two-out single by Jason Leblebijian off Gwinnett starter Bryse Wilson scored Billy McKinney from second.
The Bisons then surged ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the third when former McIntosh High School star Dwight Smith Jr. drilled a two-run homer (4) to right off Wilson.
Wilson (W, 2-0) worked 6.2 innings with seven hits, four earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts. Salas went 0.2 of an inning with three hits, one earned run and one strikeout. Jacob Webb (S, 7) worked 1.2 perfect innings with one strikeout.
Tracy pitched 5.0 innings with six hits, one earned run and five strikeouts. Guerrieri (BS, 2) (L, 1-2) worked 1.0 inning with six hits, four earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts. Breslow tossed 1.0 inning with four hits, three earned runs and one strikeout. Shafer pitched 1.0 inning with two hits, one unearned run, one walk and one strikeout.
Marte was all over the base paths for Gwinnett, going 4-for-6 with two steals, a run and an RBI. Sean Kazmar Jr. and Franco had three hits apiece. Jackson was 2-for-3 with two runs, a homer and three RBIs, and Gosselin was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. In total, Gwinnett tallied 18 hits in the contest.
Guerrero was 2-for-3 for the Bisons (51-62) with a solo homer.
The Stripers (54-59) continue their road trip Friday night at 7:05 p.m. with the first of a three-game series at Syracuse. Gwinnett is yet to announce a starter, while the Syracuse Chiefs will pitch righty Phillips Valdez (4-7, 3.05). 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.