Stripers Battle Bee Swarm, Fall Late in 6-5 Loss to Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tennessee – The Gwinnett Stripers (13-8) sat through a 53-minute delay for a swarm of bees in their dugout and went on take the lead twice on Sunday at AutoZone Park, but the Memphis Redbirds (14-7) scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning for a narrow 6-5 win. The clubs split the series 3-3.

Decisive Plays: Memphis jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run single by Blaze Jordan and RBI single by Leo Bernal. The Stripers started chipping away in the third on an RBI single from Nacho Alvarez Jr., then tied it in the fourth as Jose Azocar launched a solo home run (1) to left-center and Ben Gamel ripped an RBI single. After the bee swarm delayed the game in the top of the fourth, Gwinnett went ahead 4-3 in the fifth on a solo homer to center from Rowdy Tellez (3). Memphis tied it at 4-4 in the fifth on a single by Leo Bernal, but the Stripers again answered on an Azocar RBI single in the seventh to go up 5-4. That lead wouldn’t hold as Bernal led off the eighth with a homer (3) against Hayden Harris (L, 0-1) and Cesar Prieto followed with a go-ahead sacrifice fly for a 6-5 lead.

Key Contributors: Azocar (2-for-4, homer, 2 RBIs) and Tellez (2-for-4, homer, RBI) each went deep for the Stripers. Memphis was led by Bernal (3-for-3, homer, 3 RBIs) and Jordan (2-for-4, double, 2 RBIs).

Noteworthy: Tayler Scott made his first spot start of the season (2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) for the Stripers. Leadoff man Jim Jarvis got the day off for the first time this year, his on-base streak stands at 20 games.

Next Game (Tuesday, April 21): Gwinnett Stripers vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 6:05 p.m. ET at Gwinnett Field. It’s a 5-4-3 Tuesday, presented by Sahlen’s Hot Dogs. Radio Broadcast: 5:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com. Live Video Stream: Bally Sports Live.