By Jack Johnson
(@jackjohnson25)
Reigning International League Pitcher of the Week Allan Winans continued his dominant month of June by striking out a season-high nine batters over 6.0 scoreless innings for the Gwinnett Stripers (30-35), but a three-run eighth inning from the Nashville Sounds (35-30) turned the game around and handed Gwinnett a 4-2 loss on Wednesday afternoon at Coolray Field.
Decisive Plays: An RBI single by Nacho Alvarez Jr. put Gwinnett in front 1-0 in the third inning. The Stripers added to their lead with an RBI groundout by Ramon Laureano to make it 2-0. After Winans departed following six scoreless frames, Nashville cut the deficit in half in the seventh on an RBI double by Chris Roller. The Sounds came back in the eighth with three runs, including a two-run home run by Wes Clarke off Taylor Widener (L, 3-4) to go up 4-2.
Key Contributors: Winans (6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 SO) worked his second-straight scoreless start for Gwinnett while Alvarez Jr. (1-for-4, RBI) collected his first Triple-A hit and RBI in his debut. Drake Baldwin reached base in all four plate appearances (2-for-2, 2 BB) in his season debut with Gwinnett and Luke Williams collected a pair of hits. For Nashville, Clarke had the decisive hit with his two-run home run, and the bullpen combined for 6.0 scoreless innings.
Noteworthy: Winans has yet to allow a run over two starts in the month of June (12.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 17 SO) and is now 3-0 with a 1.76 ERA (9 ER in 46.0 IP) in seven games (six starts) all-time in June with Gwinnett. Williams extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Andrew Velazquez saw his team-best 14-game hitting streak snapped.
Next Game (Thursday, June 13): Gwinnett vs. Nashville, 7:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com. RHP Darius Vines (0-1, 5.44 ERA) will start for Gwinnett against RHP Tyler Woessner (2-4, 7.24 ERA) for the Sounds. 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.
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