Stripers’ Rally Bid Comes Up Short as Indians Take Series Opener

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – A three-run seventh inning powered by doubles from Vaughn Grissom and Jesus Aguilar put the Gwinnett Stripers (45-57) in position to tie the game, but a two-run response from the Indianapolis Indians (49-53) driven by Miguel Andujar’s big night with the bat restored a multi-run lead and handed the Stripers a 7-5 loss on Tuesday night at Coolray Field.

Decisive Plays: Run-scoring singles from Mason Martin and Andujar gave the Indians a 2-0 lead at the end of three innings. Indianapolis would lead 5-0 in the fifth after a two-run double from Andujar and an RBI single from Canaan Smith-Njigba. Dalton Guthrie put the Stripers on the board with an RBI single in the home half of the fifth to make it 5-1. Run-scoring doubles from Grissom and Aguilar in the seventh made it 5-4, but Andujar shut the door on a Stripers’ comeback with a two-RBI single in the eighth to make it 7-4.

Key Contributors: Grissom (1-for-4, double, RBI), Guthrie (2-for-5, RBI), and Aguilar (2-for-5, double, 2 RBIs) collected five of the seven hits for Gwinnett and four of the five RBIs. For Indianapolis, Andujar (4-for-5, 5 RBI) drove in five of the seven runs for the Indians.

Noteworthy: Grissom extended his already team-best on-base streak to 26 games with a walk in the fifth inning. The Stripers’ record in series openers moves to 10-9 with the opening loss to the Indians.

Next Game (Wednesday, August 2): Gwinnett vs. Indianapolis, 7:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. RHP Darius Vines (0-0, 1.93 ERA) for the Stripers against RHP Andre Jackson (0-0, 3.72 ERA) for the Indians. It’s Wet Nose Wednesday at Coolray Field, meaning dogs are admitted for free with a paid owner on The Bank, Coolray Field’s berm lawn seating.