Kyle shows the Wright stuff for Stripers

A season that looked to be going off the rails for Kyle Wright has suddenly found its way back on track.
Atlanta's No. 2 prospect continued his run of strong starts with six scoreless innings to lead Triple-A Gwinnett past Norfolk, 8-2, on Wednesday night at Harbor Park. Wright (6-4) carried a 7.22 ERA into his June 14 outing against Syracuse, but since then has allowed four earned runs in 25 1/3 innings spanning four starts.

The 23-year-old started the season in the Majors, but racked up a 7.07 ERA in three starts before he was assigned to the International League. Wright surrendered four or more runs four times in his first eight starts with the Stripers, appearing to turn the corner against Syracuse when he allowed a pair of unearned runs on two hits over a season-high 7 2/3 innings. He followed that up with by giving up three earned runs against Louisville, then bounced back with a one-run start against Indianapolis on June 28.
That success carried over into Wednesday's outing when MLB.com's No. 25 overall prospect limited the Tides to five singles. The right-hander threw just one clean inning and had a pair of wild pitches, but completed his longest scoreless outing of the year on 91 pitches -- 62 for strikes.
Gameday box score
The start hearkened back to Wright's 2018 campaign, which ended with the 2017 first-round Draft pick in the Majors. In his first full-season campaign, the Vanderbilt product finished 8-9 with a 3.46 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP and 133 strikeouts in 138 innings spanning 27 appearances. That included an invitation to the 2018 All-Star Futures Game, which he entered with two on and nobody out only to escape unscathed.
Adam Duvall's three-run homer in the sixth gave Gwinnett a 4-0 lead. The 30-year-old Major League veteran leads the circuit with 25 homers and 68 RBIs. Atlanta's 22nd-ranked prospect Alex Jackson ripped a two-RBI double and Pedro Florimón added a two-run blast for the Stripers.
Ademar Rifaela went 3-for-4 and scored once for the Tides. Starter Chandler Shepherd (0-7) allowed one run through five innings before he faltered in the sixth, surrendering a walk and a single in front of Duvall's home run. The 26-year-old was charged with four runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts in five-plus frames.