LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The Gwinnett Stripers (12-9) launched five home runs in an 8-4 victory over the Toledo Mud Hens (7-13) on Friday night at Coolray Field. Adam Duvall homered twice, and Andres Blanco, Travis Demeritte, and Austin Riley all went deep once in Gwinnett’s first five-homer game since June 11, 2012 at Pawtucket.
Scoring Recap: Josh Lester (1) got the Mud Hens on the board in the first inning with a three-run home run off Touki Toussaint to make it 3-0 Toledo. The Stripers responded in the bottom of the first as Blanco (5) and Duvall (4) each hit solo home runs and Demeritte (2) added a two-run blast. All three homers came off Tyler Alexander, giving Gwinnett a 4-3 lead. In the third, Riley (4) and Duvall (5) hit back-to-back solo homers off Alexander to put the Stripers up 6-3. In the fourth, Gwinnett extended the lead to 7-3 on a RBI single from Riley. The Mud Hens got a run back in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Dawel Lugo to make it 7-4. A sacrifice fly by Sal Giardina pushed the Gwinnett lead to 8-4 in the eighth.
Stripers Stats: Duvall went 2-for-4 with two home runs and two RBIs for his first multi-homer game of the season. Riley went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs. Sean Kazmar Jr. went 3-for-4 with a double. Toussaint (W, 1-0) won despite allowing four runs on 11 hits over 5.0 innings. Corbin Clouse (H, 3) and Rafael De Paula (S, 1) combined on 4.0 scoreless innings to finish the game.
Mud Hens Stats: Alexander (L, 0-2) yielded seven runs, six earned on nine hits – including all five homers – over 4.0 innings. Lester went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs.
Quote: “We’ve been working in the cage,” Duvall said. “Starting to drive the ball and hit it in the air a little bit better. Everybody swung the bat well tonight.”
Postgame Notes: Duvall’s first-inning clout traveled 461 feet over the batter’s eye in center, making it the longest home run hit at Coolray Field this season. Gwinnett’s three-homer first inning matched a club single-inning homer record, last reached on June 25, 2014 vs. Toledo (Phil Gosselin, Todd Cunningham, Joey Terdoslavich all homered in the third inning). Riley and Duvall hit back-to-back homers for the second game in a row. Gwinnett’s last five-homer game on June 11, 2012 at Pawtucket featured long-balls from Lance Zawadzki (2), Ernesto Mejia (1), Felix Pie (1), and Josh Wilson (1). The Stripers have won five games in a row for the first time since July 14-18, 2018.
Next Game (Saturday, April 27): Gwinnett vs. Toledo, 6:05 p.m. at Coolray Field. RHP Andres Santiago (1-1, 2.19 ERA) for the Stripers vs. RHP Beau Burrows (0-1, 2.84 ERA) for the Mud Hens. Radio Broadcast: 5:50 p.m. on 97.7 and 93.5 FM “The Other Side of the River.”
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