Aguilar’s Grand Slam Highlight of Stripers’ 13-7 Loss in St. Paul

St. Paul, MN – Jesus Aguilar blasted a grand slam and tallied five RBIs, but the Gwinnett Stripers (33-44) couldn’t stop a barrage of hits and homers in a 13-7 loss to the St. Paul Saints (45-31) on Thursday night at CHS Field.

Decisive Plays: St. Paul built a 9-0 lead through six innings before the Stripers finally got on the board with a five-run seventh. Vaughn Grissom drew a bases-loaded walk to end the shutout, and Aguilar followed with a towering drive down the left-field line for the grand slam (1). Now only trailing by four at 9-5, Gwinnett saw the Saints pull away with four more runs in the seventh to go up 13-5. Aguilar added a sacrifice fly and Braden Shewmake lined an RBI single in a two-run ninth, cutting it to 13-7.

Key Contributors: Aguilar went 2-for-4 with the homer and a game-high five RBIs for the Stripers. The Saints, meanwhile, got two solo homers from Matt Wallner (10-11), a solo shot from Mark Kolozsvary (3), and a two-run blast from Andrew Stevenson (7). St. Paul starter Randy Dobnak (W, 4-3) threw 5.0 scoreless innings and struck out five.

Noteworthy: Aguilar is the second Stripers player to tally five RBIs in a game this season, joining Forrest Wall, who did it just the previous day. He’s also the fourth to hit a grand slam for Gwinnett this season. The Stripers have lost 10-straight road games since a 16-0 win on June 2 at Norfolk.

Next Game (Friday, June 30)**:* Gwinnett at St. Paul, 8:07 p.m. ET at CHS Field. Broadcast: 7:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com. LHP *Justus Sheffield** (1-2, 7.82 ERA) for the Stripers vs. RHP Blayne Enlow (1-1, 11.05 ERA) for the Saints.

Next Home Game (Tuesday, July 4): Gwinnett vs. Omaha, 7:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. It’s an Independence Day celebration at Coolray Field. Watch the Stripers, clad in special Patriotic Jerseys for the occasion, and stick around after the game for a July 4 fireworks extravaganza.