LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Austin Riley and Adam Duvall hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning to power the Gwinnett Stripers (11-9) past the Indianapolis Indians (10-9) by a 6-2 score on Thursday at Coolray Field. The Stripers won all three games of the series for their first sweep of the season.
Scoring Recap: Riley (3) got the Stripers on the board in the third with a 379-foot two-run home run to left off Eduardo Vera for a 2-0 lead. In the next at-bat, Duvall (3) hit a 353-foot solo homer to left, extending the lead to 3-0. In the fourth, Alfredo Reyes singled home a run to cut the Gwinnett lead to 3-1. Nick Franklin (1) homered off Kolby Allard in the sixth to make it 3-2, but the Stripers picked up two runs of insurance in the seventh on a two-run single by Travis Demeritte. Rafael Ortega added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 6-2.
Stripers Stats: Allard (W, 2-1) pitched 5.1 innings and gave up two runs on seven hits to earn his second win of the season. He walked three and struck out four. Jason Creasy pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, Jonny Venters worked a scoreless inning in his first rehab outing for Gwinnett, and Shane Carle tossed a scoreless ninth. Riley went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs. Demeritte went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Indians Stats: Vera (L, 0-2) yielded three runs on six hits over 4.0 innings in the loss. Franklin went 2-for-2 with a homer and one RBI.
Quote: “I’ve been feeling good,” Allard said. “I wasn’t commanding as well as I would have liked but (catcher Sal Giardina) and I battled and were able to keep the runs down.”
Postgame Notes: The back-to-back homers by Riley and Duvall were Gwinnett’s first since August 30, 2017 in game one of a doubleheader at Norfolk (Xavier Avery 3-run, Sean Kazmar Jr. solo). Andres Blanco drew a pair of walks and has reached base safely in 14-straight games dating back to April 8. Gwinnett starting pitchers combined to go 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA (5 ER in 17.1 IP) in the series. The Stripers have won four straight games, their longest winning streak of the season.
Next Game (Friday, April 26): Gwinnett vs. Toledo, 7:05 p.m. at Coolray Field. RHP Touki Toussaint (0-0, 3.00 ERA) for the Stripers vs. TBD for the Mud Hens. Radio Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. on 97.7 and 93.5 FM “The Other Side of the River.”
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