LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Gwinnett Stripers swept a doubleheader against the Columbus Clippers Friday night at Coolray Field, winning 5-1 and 5-0. Ronald Acuña Jr. made his first rehab appearance for the Atlanta Braves since injuring his knee on May 26.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Gwinnett Stripers swept a doubleheader against the Columbus Clippers Friday night at Coolray Field, winning 5-1 and 5-0. Ronald Acuña Jr. made his first rehab appearance for the Atlanta Braves since injuring his knee on May 26.
Acuna led off game one for Gwinnett and grounded to third in his first at-bat, running hard to first base without issue.
In the second inning, Adam Rosales hit a solo home run (7) off right-hander Matt Wisler to give Columbus a 1-0 lead.
The Stripers tied it up in the bottom of the second against southpaw Matt Whitehouse. Dustin Peterson drew a one-out walk, and with two outs Rob Brantly and Sean Kazmar Jr. singled to load the bases. Chris Stewart walked, bringing Peterson home to make it 1-1. Acuña followed Stewart with the bases still loaded and sent a long fly ball to straightaway center field, but Greg Allen tracked it to the 400-foot sign to make the catch.
After a clean top of the third, heavy rains moved into Lawrenceville and forced a 1 hour, 58 minute delay. Acuna was replaced in the game by Xavier Avery due to the delay.
When the game resumed, Robert Zarate entered in place of Whitehouse, who pitched 2.0 innings with two hits, one earned run and two walks allowed with a strikeout. With two outs in the third, Carlos Franco doubled and Peterson walked. Phil Gosselin proceeded to blast a three-run homer (2) to left to open up a 4-1 lead. Gwinnett would tack on a run in the fourth with a Rio Ruiz RBI groundout.
Andres Santiago (W, 2-2), called up from Double-A Mississippi earlier in the day, relieved Wisler (3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 SO) after the delay. Santiago held the Clippers in check, allowing only two hits with four strikeouts over 3.0 innings. Chad Bell came on to finish the game with a 5-1 lead and only walked one in the final frame as the Stripers took game one in seven innings.
Game two was much of the same for Gwinnett as the Stripers dominated Columbus for a 5-0 win.
Backed by a strong offensive performance, Wes Parsons (W, 3-1) delivered a 6.1 scoreless innings. He surrendered only six hits and two walks while fanning five batters.
Gwinnett's first blow came in the second as Tyler Smith launched his second homer in as many days; a two-run shot (4) to left scoring Avery.
In the third, Gosselin and Ruiz started the inning with back-to-back singles. After an out, Franco drove a double down the right field line, scoring both runners for a 4-0 lead. Peterson then singled to bring Franco home and make it 5-0.
Jacob Webb finished the game with a clean 0.2 innings.
Adam Wilk (L, 2-6) went the distance for Columbus in game two after the Clippers used five pitchers in game one. He allowed 11 hits and five earned runs with three strikeouts over 6.0 innings in the loss.
Over the two games, Franco was 2-for-6 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Gosselin went 2-for-7 with the long ball, three RBIs and two runs scored. Peterson was 2-for-4 with two walks, two runs and an RBI.
For Columbus, Yandy Díaz and Francisco Mejía were each 2-for-6 on the day.
Gwinnett (34-38) and Columbus (35-37) meet again Saturday evening for a 6:05 p.m. matchup at Coolray Field. Righty Lucas Sims (4-2, 1.88 ERA) is scheduled for the Stripers, while righty Shao-Ching Chiang (2-0, 5.84 ERA) goes for the Clippers. Tony Schiavone will have the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and 93.5 FM The Other Side of the River beginning at 5:35 p.m.
