Top prospects Austin Riley, Mike Soroka impressive in 7-0 win over Norfolk
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Austin Riley went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs, and Mike Soroka tossed 5.0 perfect innings to jolt the Gwinnett Stripers (2-1) to a 7-0 win over the Norfolk Tides (1-2) on Saturday night at Coolray Field.
Scoring Recap: Riley gave the Stripers a 2-0 lead in the first inning with his first home run of the 2019 campaign, an opposite-field two-run blast to right off Luis Ortiz (L, 0-1). In the third, Riley belted his second homer of the game – a solo shot to center field off Ortiz – to make it 3-0 Stripers. Later in the third, Pedro Florimon came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Ryan LaMarre to give Gwinnett a 4-0 advantage. The Stripers added three runs in the fifth, two coming on a double from Travis Demeritte and another on an RBI single from LaMarre.
Stripers Stats: Soroka (W, 1-0) pitched 5.0 flawless innings and struck out seven in his first outing of the 2019 season. Riley added a double along with his first two homers of the year and scored three runs. Demeritte went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Andres Santiago allowed Norfolk’s only hit, a Zach Vincej single leading off the sixth, but pitched 2.0 scoreless innings and struck out two. Grant Dayton and Dan Winkler each pitched a scoreless inning to finish the one-hit shutout.
Postgame Notes: Riley’s last multi-homer game also came against Norfolk on May 13, 2018 when he launched a career-high three home runs to match Gwinnett’s single-game record. Demeritte collected the first two RBIs of his Triple-A career. The Stripers shut out the Tides one night after being blanked 6-0 on four hits by Norfolk on Friday.
Quote: “I felt good tonight,” Riley said. “I did some damage at the plate. I was really just focusing in on my approach. (Hitting coach) Bobby Magallanes and I talked about staying up the middle. When I am good I am up the middle and the right-center gap.”
Next Game (Sunday, April 7): Gwinnett vs. Norfolk, 1:05 p.m. at Coolray Field. RHP Touki Toussaint (NR) for the Stripers vs. LHP Keegan Akin (NR) for the Tides. Radio Broadcast: 12:50 p.m. on 97.7 and 93.5 FM “The Other Side of the River.”
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