Big Fifth Inning from Jacksonville Hands Gwinnett 8-3 Loss

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The Gwinnett Stripers (23-26) got productive offensive nights from Sean Murphy, Yuli Gurriel, and Eli White, but a six-run fifth inning from the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (21-28) broke the game open and sent Gwinnett to an 8-3 loss on Friday night at Coolray Field.

Decisive Plays: Jacksonville loaded the bases in the second inning and tallied a run to take a 1-0 lead on an RBI from Marty Costes. The Stripers evened the score on an RBI liner from Murphy in the third inning. The Jumbo Shrimp got four RBI singles in a six-run fifth to build an insurmountable 7-1 lead. Gwinnett got two late runs on RBI singles by White and Gurriel in the seventh inning.

Key Contributors: Murphy (2-for-5, RBI), White (2-for-4, RBI) and Gurriel (3-for-4, double, RBI) accounted for each of the Stripers' runs on Friday. Sandy Leon, typically a catcher for Gwinnett, worked a perfect inning of relief in the top of the ninth. For Jacksonville, Xavier Edwards and Victor Mesa Jr. had multi-hit outings while the Jumbo Shrimp won without recording an extra-base hit.

Noteworthy: White recorded two hits to extend his on-base streak to 15 games, tying Forrest Wall for the longest on-base streak by a Gwinnett player this season. Gurriel recorded his fifth multi-hit game as a Striper and pushed his own on-base streak to 14 games. A loss was dealt to reliever Brooks Wilson, representing just the second reliever to record a loss in May for Gwinnett. The bullpen record is now 6-2 this month.

Next Game (Saturday, May 25): Gwinnett vs. Jacksonville, 6:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 5:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. RHP Bryce Elder (2-0, 3.31 ERA) will start for Gwinnett against RHP Yonny Chirinos (4-4, 2.76 ERA) for Jacksonville. The Stripers will give away replica jerseys of their July 4^th patriotic set from 2023 to the first 1,750 fans at Coolray Field.