LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - On a rainy Memorial Day at Coolray Field, the Gwinnett Braves (27-25) surrendered a late lead but bounced back to walk off and beat the Syracuse Chiefs (15-31) 4-3 in 10 innings.The G-Braves rallied for the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning after surrendering
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - On a rainy Memorial Day at Coolray Field, the Gwinnett Braves (27-25) surrendered a late lead but bounced back to walk off and beat the Syracuse Chiefs (15-31) 4-3 in 10 innings.
The G-Braves rallied for the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning after surrendering a 3-2 lead in the ninth. Johan Camargo led off with a double, Adonis García followed with a single and Mel Rojas Jr. was intentionally walked to load the bases. Lane Adams then ended the game with a long single to right, plating Camargo with the winning run. Adams' second walk-off hit of 2017 gave Gwinnett a four-game sweep of the Chiefs and completed a 6-1 homestand.
Patrick Weigel started for Gwinnett and threw a clean first inning to start the afternoon. The offense got him some early support as Ozzie Albies led off the bottom of the first with a single to center off Syracuse starter Greg Ross, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by the rehabbing Garcia.
In the third, Weigel quickly retired the first two hitters he faced before getting into trouble. Brandon Snyder, Ryan Raburn and Clint Robinson all singled with two outs as the Chiefs evened the score at 1-1.
In the bottom of the third, Gwinnett regained the lead. At the plate, Weigel led off the inning with a single in his first career Triple-A at-bat and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Albies laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Weigel to third. Camargo put the G-Braves back in front 2-1 by lining a sacrifice fly to right to score Weigel.
After two clean innings, Weigel worked into trouble in the sixth, and that proved to be the end of his afternoon. With two outs and a runner at first, Irving Falu hit a single to put a pair of runners on base for Ross. Gwinnett turned to Akeel Morris out of the bullpen in search of the third out of the inning, but Ross would help his own cause by hitting a single to right, plating Andrew Stevenson from second with the tying run. Weigel finished with a no-decision after giving up two earned runs on eight hits with one strikeout and two walks over 5.2 innings pitched.
Morris returned to the mound in the seventh and worked around a two-out double from Robinson to keep the game tied as rain began to fall. In the bottom of the seventh, the G-Braves scratched out a run to retake the lead. Xavier Avery led off the inning with a single, and pinch hitter Matt Tuiasosopo followed with a walk to put a pair of runners on base. Two batters later, Camargo grounded out to first, but that was good enough to score Avery with the go-ahead run.
Enrique Burgos made his G-Braves' debut in the eighth and retired the side in order to hold the lead at 3-2. However, in the ninth, the Chiefs would get even against Gwinnett reliever Rhiner Cruz . As rain continued to fall, Robinson lifted a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to score Caleb Ramsey and even the score at 3-3.
As the game went to extra innings, Mauricio Cabrera (W, 2-1) replaced Cruz and pitched a scoreless top of the 10th inning. In the bottom half, Syracuse reliever Neal Cotts (L, 1-2) got into a bases-loaded jam. The Chiefs turned to Rafael Martín to try and get through it, but Adams' hit ended the game.
Offensively, Garcia led the way for the G-Braves with a 4-for-5 performance including two doubles and an RBI. Camargo drove in a pair of runs, going 1-for-4 with a double.
For Syracuse, Snyder, Raburn, Robinson and Falu all recorded two-hit games in the loss.
The G-Braves now hit the road to begin a three-game series with the Louisville Bats on Tuesday night at Louisville Slugger Field. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. Right-hander Lucas Sims (4-2, 3.42) is scheduled to start for Gwinnett while Louisville has yet to officially name a starter. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM The Other Side of the River beginning at 6:05 p.m.
The G-Braves return to Coolray Field for a seven-game homestand starting on Monday, June 5. Game one of a three-game series vs. the Norfolk Tides begins at 7:05 p.m. For tickets, call 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.
