Gwinnett Offense Breaks Out to Back Vines Once Again in 10-5 Rout of Jacksonville

Top hitting prospects Nacho Alvarez Jr., Drake Baldwin each homer to lead Stripers offensive surge behind starter Darius Vines

A two-run home run by catcher Drake Baldwin started the scoring for Gwinnett as the offense showed out once again for Darius Vines on Wednesday afternoon.

By Jack Johnson (@jackjohnson25)

July 10, 2024

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – After scoring a Gwinnett club record 21 runs the last time Darius Vines took the mound for a start in St. Paul, the Gwinnett Stripers' (7-7) offense, led by a two-run home run by Drake Baldwin and a three-run blast by Nacho Alvarez Jr. early on, erupted

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – After scoring a Gwinnett club record 21 runs the last time Darius Vines took the mound for a start in St. Paul, the Gwinnett Stripers' (7-7) offense, led by a two-run home run by Drake Baldwin and a three-run blast by Nacho Alvarez Jr. early on, erupted once again for eight runs of support for Vines in a dominant 10-5 win over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (6-7) on Wednesday afternoon at Coolray Field.

Decisive Plays: Griffin Conine powered a home run to right field to put Jacksonville in front 1-0 in the second inning. The Stripers took their first lead on Baldwin's two-run homer (6) in the third. A bases-loaded RBI walk by Luis Liberato in the fourth made it 3-1 and opened the floodgates for the Stripers to blow the game open on a three-run home run (6) by Alvarez Jr. a few batters later to give the Stripers a 7-1 lead. The lead expanded to 8-1 on an RBI single by Alejo Lopez in the fifth before Jacksonville put up three runs in the sixth to pull within four of the Gwinnett lead. Liberato and Lopez showed up once again with a pair of RBI in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Key Contributors: Alvarez Jr. (1-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) and Baldwin (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) led the way offensively with a pair of bombs while Lopez (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and Liberato (1-for-3, 2 RBI) had the other multi-RBI games. For Jacksonville, Conine and Jonathan Davis had the big offensive games with a pair of homers.

Noteworthy: The two longest active on-base streaks for Gwinnett were extended, as Luke Williams collected two hits to extend his streak to 21 games, while Chadwick Tromp went 1-for-4 to increase his streak to 16 games. The Stripers have supported Vines with a combined 22 runs over his last two starts (11.1 innings). Alvarez Jr. has hit safely in 18 of 23 games (78.2%) with Gwinnett, while Baldwin has hit safely in 21 of 26 games (81%) this season with the club.

Next Game (Thursday, July 11): Gwinnett vs. Jacksonville, 7:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. LHP Zach Logue (3-5, 3.38 ERA) will start for Gwinnett opposed by RHP Valente Bellozo (1-2, 5.66 ERA) for Jacksonville. It's Michelob Ultra Thirsty Thursday at Coolray Field, as fans age 21 and older can get select 12-ounce domestic beers for just $2 each.