Stripers Homer Three Times, Steal Six Bases in 9-6 Win at Durham

DURHAM, N.C. – Drew Lugbauer, Magneuris Sierra, and Dalton Guthrie all bashed two-run home runs, and five different players combined on six stolen bases as the Gwinnett Stripers (55-63) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 9-6 win over the Durham Bulls (68-52) on Sunday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Decisive Plays: Lugbauer (2) and Sierra (2) each belted homers to help the Stripers take a 5-0 lead midway through the fourth. Durham cut the lead to 5-2 on a two-run single from Ruben Cardenas in the bottom of the fourth. RBI singles by Forrest Wall in the sixth and Joe Hudson in the seventh raised the advantage to 7-2, but Ronny Simon lifted a two-run shot (2) to trim the score to 7-4 in the seventh. Guthrie’s two-run blast (1) made it 9-4 in the eighth. In the ninth, Grant Holmes yielded a two-run homer to Vidal Brujan (10) before getting the final out.

Key Contributors: Sierra (3-for-4, homer, 2 RBIs), Lugbauer (1-for-5, homer, 2 RBIs), Guthrie (1-for-4, homer, 2 RBIs), and Hudson (2-for-5, 2 RBIs) combined to drive in eight of the nine runs for Gwinnett. Former Bull Ben Heller (W, 5-2) pitched 2.0 scoreless innings and struck out four for the win. For Durham, Brujan, Cardenas, and Simon each had two RBIs.

Noteworthy: Wall stole second and third base on consecutive pitches in the fourth inning, raising his stolen base total to 48 and surpassing Luis Durango (46 steals in 2012) for the Gwinnett single-season record. The Stripers’ six steals (2 by Wall, 1 each by Braden Shewmake, Guthrie, Sierra, and Hudson) set a new Gwinnett single-game record. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak at Durham Bulls Athletic Park that began on May 12, 2022.

*Next Game (Tuesday, August 22): * Gwinnett vs. Nashville, 7:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. It’s Family Value Tuesday at Coolray Field, with $2 Hot Dogs and $1 Desserts.