The Gwinnett Braves lost to the Durham Bulls 4-3 Tuesday night in Durham and fall 3.5 games behind the Bulls (78-58) in the International League South with only seven games left to play in the regular season. The G-Braves (75-62) remain even with Lehigh Valley (76-62) in the IL Wild Card hunt because LV lost to the SWB Yankees 4-1 in 14 innings.
Gwinnett opened the scoring in the 1st inning when reigning IL Batter of the Week Mauro Gomez doubled driving in Matt Young. Young had reached base via walk to start the game. The G-Braves loaded the bases before both Brandon Hicks and Wilkin Castillo went down swinging to end the inning. Durham answered with a run in the home half of the inning off G-Braves starter Yohan Flande to tie the score at 1 going to the 2nd. Wilkin Ramirez doubled to start the inning, moved to third on a J.J. Boscan ground out and scored two hitters later when Ruben Gotay singled to right. Gotay was caught stealing to end the inning. Gwinnett held the 2-1 advantage into the bottom of the 3rd inning when the Bulls added a pair of runs on a Wes Helms fielding error that allowed Tim Beckham and Brandon Guyer to cross the plate. Durham took a 3-2 lead and held it until the 6th inning when Stefan Gartrell scored on a ground out by Castillo that tied the game at 3. The Bulls took the lead for good in the 8th inning when Russ Canzler singled scoring Beckham for the final run of the night and giving the Bulls a 4-3 victory. Canzler was named International League MVP earlier in the day.
Final Score: Durham Bulls 4 Gwinnett Braves 3
Yohan Flande (ND) (8-8, 3.91 with 1 Save) made his 18th start of the year and left the game after pitching six innings with the score tied at 3. He surrendered six hits and three runs (earned) while striking out five and did not walk a batter;Peter Moylan (ND) (0-0, 0.00) made the fourth appearance of his rehab stint in Gwinnett and looked sharp. He worked one scoreless inning and did not allow a hit while striking out the side. Moylan has 7 K’s in 4.0 IP and looks ready for a return to Atlanta. Major League rosters expand later this week and Moylan appears ready to go; Anthony Varvaro (L, 2-8, 2.90) came on in the 8th and took the loss allowing one run (earned) and a pair of hits while walking one and striking out one.
Four G-Braves had a multi-hit game as Gwinnett totaled ten hits on the day. 2B Ruben Gotay (.263, 3 HRs/24 RBI) had a 2-for-4 day with a run-batted-in; LF Stefan Gartrell (.267, 25 HRs/88 RBI) was 2-for-3 with a double (32), a run scored and reached base once via walk; 1B Wes Helms (.176, 0 HRs/3 RBI) had two hits in three trips to the plate; RF Wilkin Ramirez (.262, 9 HRs/33 RBI) was 2-for-4 including his 15th double of the year and scored a run. He is hitting .314 over his last ten games.
ON DECK:
Gwinnett moves on to Norfolk, Virginia where they will face the Tides. First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m. and is a continuation of a rain suspended game on July 25th. Following that game, the teams will play the regularly scheduled game. Pitchers have not been named for either team.
Promotions
Tickets
International League News:
The IL announced Gwinnett’s own Mauro Gomez has been named Batter of the Week for the week ending August 28th while Columbus pitcher Paolo Espino received Pitcher of the Week honors.
Visit Pert Plus MiLB Stars to vote for the G-Braves duo of RHP Julio Teheran and LHP Mike Minor. Voting will determine which MiLB prospect fans believe will have the biggest Major League impact of 55 Triple-A prospects.
FOLLOW THE G-BRAVES:
Games can be heard on the voice of the G-Braves, WDUN 550 AM and 102.9 FM. Fans can also follow at www.twitter.com/GwinnettBraves1, on gametracker at www.gwinnettbraves.com and on MiLB TV at www.MiLB.com.
Subscribe for email alerts when new articles are available.
