Pitching Continues to Struggle as Stripers Fall 11-5 to Saints

St. Paul, MN – The Gwinnett Stripers (33-47) once again had a difficult time slowing down the St. Paul Saints (47-31) in an 11-5 loss on Sunday afternoon at CHS Field. St. Paul has won all five games by a combined score of 56-30.

Decisive Plays: The Stripers fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning but tied the game at 1-1 in the second on an RBI double by Yolmer Sanchez. That tie didn’t last long, however, as Andrew Stevenson crushed a grand slam off AJ Smith-Shawver (L, 0-2) to put St. Paul up 5-1 in the second. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Vaughn Grissom and Joe Dunand got Gwinnett as close as 5-3 in the third, but the Saints added runs in the third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to put the game out of reach.

Key Contributors: Grissom (3-for-4, 2 doubles, RBI), Sanchez (2-for-4, 2 doubles, RBI), and Daniel Robertson (2-for-4, double, triple, RBI) combined to tally six of Gwinnett’s seven extra-base hits, but Stevenson (1-for-5, homer, 4 RBIs) and Trevor Larnach (3-for-5, homer, 3 RBIs) combined to drive in seven runs for St. Paul. Simeon Woods Richardson (W, 1-5) yielded three runs on six hits over 5.0 innings for the Saints.

Noteworthy: Forrest Wall extended his hitting streak to nine games, going 1-for-4 with a single. Grissom’s three-hit day was his team-leading 22^nd multi-hit game of the year.

Next Game (Monday, July 3**):* Gwinnett at St. Paul, 7:07 p.m. ET at CHS Field. Broadcast: 5:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com. RHP *Allan Winans** (6-3, 2.94 ERA) for the Stripers vs. RHP Louie Varland (2-0, 6.66 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.