PawSox Game Notes: July 19

JULY 20^th                         PAWTUCKET (45-50)   at   GWINNETT (44-53)      7:05 pm         
Pawtucket Red Sox RHP Jalen Beeks (5-5, 3.05) vs. Gwinnett Stripers RHP Touki Toussaint (1-0, 1.35)
                                                                               
It's Been Awhile Strangers - Exactly three months since they met for the first time in 2018 (on Friday, April 20 at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket), the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Gwinnett Stripers (AAA-Atlanta) face each other again for another 3-game weekend series…this time at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, GA. The PawSox and Stripers play tonight at 7:05 pm, tomorrow at 6:05 pm, and Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm in the series (and Pawtucket's roadtrip) finale. Pawtucket swept that 3-game set at McCoy three months ago beginning with a 5-4, 11-inning victory in the series opener on April 20 on a Mike Olt game-winning single. The next night, the Sox got 6 shutout innings (with 10 strikeouts) from starter and winner Jalen Beeks in a 6-0 blanking of the Stripers. And then on the afternoon of April 22, the PawSox pulled out a dramatic 10-9 win in 11-innings as Gwinnett scored 3 runs in the top of the 11^th only to see the Sox rally for 4 runs in the bottom of the 11 innings capped by a Mike Miller walk-off single. That game also featured a PawSox triple play as the Sox pulled off a rare 3-1-6-2 triple play to thwart a Gwinnett uprising in the 2^nd-inning.
Getting the Best of Gwinnett - Pawtucket has won 28 of their last 40 games vs. Gwinnett overall dating back to the 2012 season. The PawSox won the final five games vs. the Braves during the 2012 season (finishing 6-2) and the first five meetings of the 2013 season (also finishing 6-2) to compile a 10-game winning streak against Gwinnett. The Sox were 5-3 vs. the Braves in 2014, 4-2 vs. Gwinnett in 2015, 3-2 vs. the G-Braves in 2016, 2-4 in 2017, and 3-0 in 2018. Prior to 2017, Gwinnett had had just one winning season vs. the PawSox (6-2 in 2009) since moving from Richmond that year.
Tough Series - The PawSox are coming off a disappointing 4-game series in Charlotte as the Sox dropped 3 of 4 including the final three games in a row (with two of those defeats suffered in walk-off fashion). The PawSox won the opener of the closely-played series with an 8-6 come-from-behind victory on Monday (scoring 3 runs with two outs in the top of the 9^th). However, the Knights won the next three games by scores of 6-5 in 11-innings on Tuesday, 3-0 Wednesday (despite being held to 1-hit - a solo homer - over 6-innings by rehabbing PawSox starter Drew Pomeranz), and 4-3 last night as the Knights used a bases loaded walk to win in the bottom of the 9^th. It marked the 7^th time this season the PawSox have lost a game in their opponents final at-bat (compared to 11 victories in Pawtucket's final AB of a game).
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