SYRACUSE, NY - The Gwinnett Stripers (37-29), riding the pitching of Kyle Wright and a 17-hit attack, beat the Syracuse Mets (32-35) 11-4 on Friday night in the opener of the three-game series at NBT Bank Stadium. Wright struck out a season-high 10 batters and Sean Kazmar Jr. tied a
SYRACUSE, NY - The Gwinnett Stripers (37-29), riding the pitching of Kyle Wright and a 17-hit attack, beat the Syracuse Mets (32-35) 11-4 on Friday night in the opener of the three-game series at NBT Bank Stadium. Wright struck out a season-high 10 batters and Sean Kazmar Jr. tied a career high with five hits.
Scoring Recap: The Mets opened a 2-0 lead in the first inning with two unearned runs off Wright, both scoring on a two-run home run by René Rivera (7). The Stripers scored three runs in the top of the second off left-hander Anthony Kay to take the lead for good at 3-2. In the top of the third, Kazmar Jr. (9) blasted a two-run homer off Kay for a 5-2 lead. An RBI double by Travis Demeritte in the seventh made it 6-2. The lead grew to 10-2 in the eighth as Rafael Ortega (12) hit a two-run homer off Stephen Villines and Luis Marté dropped in a two-run single. Marte added an RBI single in the ninth to make it 11-2. Syracuse scored twice in the bottom of the ninth, but left the bases loaded to end the game.
Stripers Stats: Wright (W, 4-4) pitched a season-high 7.2 innings with two unearned runs on two hits, two walks, and 10 strikeouts. At the plate, Kazmar Jr. was 5-for-5 with a double, homer, three runs, and two RBIs. Jack Lopez went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Marte tallied three RBIs in a 2-for-4 night. Ortega went 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs.
Mets Stats: Kay (L, 0-1), making his first Triple-A start, pitched 4.0 innings with six hits and five earned runs. Rivera went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs.
Postgame Notes: Kazmar Jr. collected the third five-hit game of his career, first since August 29, 2010 with Triple-A Portland at Tacoma. The five hits were the most by a Gwinnett player since Danny Santana also had five on July 15, 2017 at Charlotte. Ortega extended his on-base streak to 23 games and hitting streak to 10 games. The Stripers recorded a season-high 17 hits including seven for extra bases. Wright retired 14 batters in a row between the second and seventh innings.
Next Game (Saturday, June 15): Gwinnett at Syracuse, 7:05 p.m. at NBT Bank Stadium. RHP Huascar Ynoa (1-1, 5.63 ERA) starts for the Stripers vs. RHP Chris Mazza (1-3, 3.86 ERA) for the Mets. Radio Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. on 97.7 and 93.5 FM "The Other Side of the River."
