Dunand’s Near-Cycle Leads Stripers to Sweep in Charlotte

Gwinnett extends winning streak to eight games with 10-7 win over Knights

Joe Dunand tripled, homered, and had three RBIs to help the Stripers sweep Charlotte on Sunday night. (Bernie Connelly)

By Dave Lezotte (@davelezotte)

August 13, 2023

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Joe Dunand fell a double shy of the cycle in a three-RBI effort, helping the Gwinnett Stripers (54-58) complete a rare six-game series sweep with a 10-7 win over the Charlotte Knights (41-73) on Sunday night at Truist Field. The Stripers’ eight-game winning streak matches the longest

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Joe Dunand fell a double shy of the cycle in a three-RBI effort, helping the Gwinnett Stripers (54-58) complete a rare six-game series sweep with a 10-7 win over the Charlotte Knights (41-73) on Sunday night at Truist Field. The Stripers’ eight-game winning streak matches the longest in Gwinnett history, set from May 10-18, 2019.

Decisive Plays: Dunand laced an RBI triple for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Stripers fell behind 5-1 in the bottom of the first. Gwinnett clawed back to tie the game with two runs in the second and third innings. An RBI double by Dalton Guthrie, RBI single by Magneuris Sierra, solo home run by Dunand (15), and RBI groundout by Joe Hudson brought the score to a 5-5 tie. Xavier Fernandez lifted a solo homer (1) in the third to put Charlotte back ahead 6-5, but the Stripers answered with three runs in the fifth to go up 8-6. Dunand’s RBI single in the ninth capped the scoring at 10-7.

Key Contributors: Dunand (3-for-6, triple, homer, 3 RBIs) and Hudson (2-for-5, 2 RBIs) each had multi-RBI efforts, while every Stripers player had at least one hit. Guthrie also had three hits (3-for-4, triple, RBI). Justus Sheffield (W, 2-5) won despite allowing six runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings. Relievers Mike Morin (H, 2), Dereck Rodriguez (H, 2), Ben Heller (H, 3), and Grant Holmes (S, 10) preserved the lead.

Noteworthy: Grissom extended his on-base streak to 36 games with his International League-leading 32^nd double of the year in the first inning. The double also marked his sixth-straight game with an extra-base hit. The six-game sweep is just the second in Gwinnett history, first since the Stripers also won all six at Charlotte from July 13-18, 2021. Gwinnett has won six consecutive series finales after starting the year 2-12 in such games.

Next Game (Tuesday, August 15**):* Gwinnett at Durham, 6:35 p.m. ET at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. RHP *AJ Smith-Shawver** (2-2, 4.45 ERA) for the Stripers vs. LHP Jacob Lopez (3-4, 2.72 ERA) for the Bulls. Broadcast: 6:20 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live.