Wall's Two-Run Blast and Shutdown Night From Bullpen Drive Stripers to 5-3 Win

Two-run homer from Forrest Wall in third inning puts Stripers ahead for good in second straight win over Durham

Forrest Wall drove the bus for the Gwinnett offense, blasting a two-run homer in the third and recording the 54th stolen base of his Gwinnett career.

May 4, 2024

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Forrest Wall scored Gwinnett’s first run of the game in the first inning and launched them ahead of the Durham Bulls (12-20) with a two-run home run in the third as the Stripers (15-16) did not look back, riding four scoreless innings from their bullpen to score

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Forrest Wall scored Gwinnett’s first run of the game in the first inning and launched them ahead of the Durham Bulls (12-20) with a two-run home run in the third as the Stripers (15-16) did not look back, riding four scoreless innings from their bullpen to score a 5-3 win on Saturday night at Coolray Field.

Decisive Plays: Durham led one pitch into the ballgame as Josh Lowe blasted a leadoff homer to center field. Gwinnett answered on an RBI single from J.P. Martinez in the home half to tie it at 1-1. Wall powered a two-run homer (2) to right field to stake Gwinnett to a 3-1 lead in the third inning. The Stripers got an insurance RBI from Andrew Velazquez in the fourth to lead 4-1, but Lowe struck again in the fifth, this time with a two-run homer to make it 4-3. Alejo Lopez tugged a double down the left field line to push the lead to 5-3 for Gwinnett in the seventh. Grant Holmes secured the win for Gwinnett with a five-out save across the eighth and the ninth.

Key Contributors: Wall (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs, SB), Velazquez (3-for-4, RBI), and Martinez (2-for-4, RBI) each had multi-hit nights at the plate. Jimmy Herget (H, 1), Daysbel Hernandez (H, 2), and Holmes (S, 3) combined for 4.0 scoreless innings of relief behind starter Allan Winans (W, 2-2). For Durham, Lowe (2-for-5, 2 HR, 3 RBIs) supplied all of the scoring while Junior Caminero and Ruben Cardenas each went 2-for-5 on offense.

Noteworthy: Holmes recorded the 16^th save of his Stripers career, tying him with Michael Tonkin (2022-23) for fifth place in career saves for Gwinnett. Wall has now homered in consecutive games while Velazquez has recorded multi-hit outings in his last three games. Five of the last six victories for Gwinnett have come when scoring second in the contest.

Next Game (Sunday, May 5): Gwinnett vs. Durham, 1:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 12:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. LHP Zach Logue (0-2, 2.87 ERA) will start for Gwinnett against RHP Nathan Wiles (2-2, 7.50 ERA) for Durham. It's COUNTRY Financial Sunday Funday at Coolray Field, with Pregame Catch on the Field and Postgame Kids Run the Bases.

Forrest Wall