LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia – Back from his Major League debut stint with the Atlanta Braves, JR Ritchie tossed 5.2 innings of two-run baseball for the Gwinnett Stripers (28-23) on Sunday afternoon, but the bats couldn’t back him in a 3-2 loss to the Charlotte Knights (26-25) at Gwinnett Field. Gwinnett went 2-4 in the six-game series.
Decisive Plays: The Stripers built a 2-0 lead on the strength of RBI singles from Jair Camargo in the second and Brett Wisely in the third. Charlotte got single runs off Ritchie in the fourth and fifth to tie it at 2-2. The game stayed tied until the top of the eighth, when Rikuu Nishida dove across first base for an RBI infield single scoring Dustin Harris for a 3-2 Knights lead. Brewer Hicklen doubled but was left on base in the bottom of the eighth, and a leadoff single by DaShawn Keirsey Jr. in the bottom of the ninth was also stranded.
Key Contributors: Wisely (2-for-4, run, RBI) and Hicklen (2-for-4, double, run) had multi-hit games for the Stripers. Nishida went 2-for-4 with a run and RBI for the Knights. Charlotte relievers Tyler Gilbert (W, 4-0), Zach Franklin (H, 1), and Chris Murphy (S, 2) combined on 3.2 scoreless, three-hit innings to finish the game.
Noteworthy: Gwinnett is now 8-13 in games decided by one run this season. Ritchie extended his team-best scoreless innings streak to 17.0 before allowing an RBI single to Mario Camilletti in the fourth inning. Hicklen extended his season-best hitting streak to 10 games.
Next Game (Tuesday, May 26): Gwinnett Stripers at Nashville Sounds, 7:35 p.m. ET at First Horizon Park. Radio Broadcast: 7:20 p.m. on MyCountry993.com. Live Video Stream: Bally Sports Live.
Next Home Game (Tuesday, June 2): Gwinnett Stripers vs. Norfolk Tides, 6:35 p.m. ET at Gwinnett Field. It’ 5-4-3 Tuesday, presented by Sahlen’s Hot Dogs. Radio Broadcast: 6:20 p.m. on MyCountry993.com. Live Video Stream: Bally Sports Live.