Knights Crush G-Braves, Split Series

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - The Gwinnett Braves (67-66) held a 4-0 lead through the first four innings, but the Charlotte Knights (57-77) erupted for 12 runs on the way to a 12-5 victory on Sunday afternoon at Coolray Field. The G-Braves and Knights split the four-game weekend series.u1:p
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Gwinnett opened a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning against Charlotte starter Steve Johnson. Micah Johnson led off with a triple into the right-field corner, and after a walk to Matt Tuiasosopo , he scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Kubitza . Sal Giardina followed with a single to put runners at the corners, and Luis Valenzuela poked a single into shallow left scoring Tuiasosopo.u1:p
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The G-Braves extended the lead to 4-0 in the fourth. Giardina drew a one-out walk and scored on another hit by Valenzuela, this time a triple down the right-field line. Ronald Acuña Jr. then plated Valenzuela with a sacrifice fly to center.u1:p
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But in the fifth, the Knights rallied for six runs against Aaron Blair to take a 6-4 lead. Casey Gillaspie and Ronald Bueno opened the inning with back-to-back doubles to score the first run. After two outs, Jake Peter walked to keep the inning going. Jacob May then singled, and Cody Asche cut the Gwinnett lead to 4-3 with a two-run single to left. A double steal sent Asche to second and scored May from third to tie the game. Rymer Liriano followed with a go-ahead RBI single to center, and Danny Hayes added an RBI double to center for a 6-4 lead. u1:p
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Blair was ejected by home plate umpire John Bacon following the Hayes double. Akeel Morris came on from the bullpen and induced a ground out from Gillespie, ending the fifth inning. Over 4.2 innings, Blair (L, 7-8) yielded six earned runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out five.u1:p
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Morris tossed 2.1 scoreless innings to hold the deficit at 6-4, but the Knights put together another big inning in the eighth. Enrique Burgos loaded the bases on two walks and a single before walking Eddy Alvarez to force in a run. Rex Brothers replaced Burgos and promptly gave up a three-run double to Peter, making it 10-4. Later in the inning, a wild pitch by Brothers sent Peter home for an 11-4 Charlotte advantage.u1:p
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Rhiner Cruz pitched the ninth and allowed an RBI infield single to Chris O'Dowd to make it 12-4. Gwinnett answered back with a run off Al Alburquerque in the bottom of the ninth as Acuna walked and scored on a double by Xavier Avery .u1:p
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Steve Johnson (W, 2-3) earned the win for the Knights with four runs on five hits, three walks and five strikeouts over 5.0 innings. Connor Walsh (H, 2) and Matt Purke (H, 12) each pitched scoreless innings, and Alburqureque surrendered a run over the final 2.0 innings.u1:p
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Offensively for the G-Braves, Valenzuela went 3-for-4 with a triple, run scored and two RBIs, Micah Johnson also tripled and scored in a 2-for-5 effort, and Giardina went 2-for-3 with a run scored.u1:p
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The Knights were paced by Gillaspie, who went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored. Peter went 1-for-5 with a double and three RBIs, and Asche went 1-for-5 with two RBIs.u1:p
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The G-Braves travel to Norfolk, VA on Monday to start their final road trip of 2017. Game one of a four-game series vs. the Norfolk Tides at Harbor Park begins at 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Kris Medlen (2-6, 5.49 ERA) is slated to start for Gwinnett, while Norfolk will counter with right-hander Tyler Wilson (6-8, 4.72 ERA). Tony Schiavone has the call on 97.7 FM "The Other Side of the River" with the pregame show starting at 6:35 p.m.u1:p
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The Gwinnett Braves return to Coolray Field on Friday, September 1 for game one of a five-game series vs. the Durham Bulls. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. For tickets, call the Coolray Field Ticket Office at 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.u1:p