DURHAM, North Carolina – The Gwinnett Stripers (17-15, 55-51) rolled to an 8-0 shutout in game one but suffered a 4-2 walk-off defeat to the Durham Bulls (21-10, 49-57) on Saturday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The series is tied 3-3 going into the finale on Sunday.
Decisive Plays (Game 1): The Stripers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a run-scoring balk charged to Durham starter Trevor Martin (L, 3-1). An inning later, Patrick Clohisy made it 2-0 with an RBI single to left. The gap widened to 6-0 with a four-run fourth highlighted by RBI singles from Brewer Hicklen and Clohisy, a bases-loaded walk by Kyle Farmer, and a sacrifice fly by Sean Murphy. In the fifth, Hicklen doubled, stole third, and scored on an error to make it 7-0. Hicklen singled again in the seventh and scored the final run on an RBI fielder’s choice from Brett Wisely.
Key Contributors (Game 1): Starter Drue Hackenberg (3.2 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 5 SO) and relievers Blake Burkhalter (win, 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) and Rolddy Muñoz (1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 SO) combined on a two-hit shutout. Hicklen (3-for-4 double, RBI), Clohisy (2-for-5, 2 RBIs), and Carlos Santana (2-for-4, run) all had multi-hit efforts.
Decisive Plays (Game 2): Tre Morgan homered in a two-run fourth as the Bulls took a 2-0 lead against starter Anderson Pilar. Gwinnett quickly responded to tie it at 2-2 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Jair Camargo and RBI single from Cal Conley. The Stripers had runners on second and third with one out in the seventh but failed to score the go-ahead run against Michael Grove (W, 1-1). In the bottom of the seventh, Logan Davidson hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer (9) off Joel Payamps (L, 4-2) to end the game.
Key Contributors (Game 2): Camargo (1-for-2, RBI) and Conley (1-for-3, RBI) drove in Gwinnett’s runs in the nightcap. Durham starter Michael Forret had a no-hitter through 4.0 innings and pitched 6.0 frames (4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO) in a no-decision. Davidson went 1-for-3 with the two-run blast for the Bulls.
Noteworthy: With the win in game one, Burkhalter (W, 2-0) extended his scoreless streak between Double-A and Triple-A to 14 games (18.1 innings) dating back to June 17. Ha-Seong Kim (1-for-7) and Murphy (1-for-3, RBI) both continued rehab assignments for the Atlanta Braves. Pilar (4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) stepped in to start game two for JR Ritchie, who was a late scratch.
Next Game (Sunday, August 2): Gwinnett Stripers at Durham Bulls, 5:05 p.m. ET at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Radio Broadcast: 4:50 p.m. on MyCountry993.com. Live Video Stream: Bally Sports Live.