Widener, Holmes Combine to Blank Jacksonville 3-0

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – A terrific outing of 5.0 scoreless innings from Taylor Widener was followed by 4.0 scoreless innings of relief from Grant Holmes as the pair combined for the fifth shutout victory of the season for the Gwinnett Stripers (23-24) in a 3-0 triumph over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (19-28) on Wednesday night at Coolray Field.

Decisive Plays: Gwinnett broke through quickly in the first inning on RBIs from J.P. Martinez and Yuli Gurriel to lead 2-0. An insurance run in the fifth made it 3-0 on a sacrifice fly by Phillip Evans. Holmes struck out the side in the ninth inning to secure a shutout win and his fourth save of the season.

Key Contributors: Widener took the win (5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO) and tied his season highs in both innings and strikeouts in a dominant start. Holmes followed suit with a 12-out save (4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO) and tied for his longest outing of the season. For Jacksonville, Victor Mesa Jr. collected a multi-hit game.

Noteworthy: Holmes recorded his 17^th career save with Gwinnett, putting him alone in fifth place all-time in Gwinnett history for saves. Both Gurriel and Eli White extended their on-base streaks to 13 games. Forrest Wall has now led off a game with a hit on 10 occasions this season. The Stripers are second place in shutout victories in the International League, trailing Buffalo (Triple-A, Toronto Blue Jays) which has six.

Next Game (Thursday, May 23): Gwinnett vs. Jacksonville, 7:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. The starting pitcher is TBD for Gwinnett while RHP Valente Bellozo (Triple-A debut) will start 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. It is also AAPI Heritage Night, as the Stripers will honor the contributions to the community and baseball made by Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.