By Jack Johnson
Gwinnett Stripers
Bryson Worrell had spent all of 17 innings in Triple-A when he connected on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth inning. His towering fly ball over the wall in right-center was a walk-off two-run home run that gave the Gwinnett Stripers (19-19) a thrilling 6-4 victory over the Charlotte Knights (15-23) on Sunday afternoon at Coolray Field. The homer capped a memorable ninth that saw the Stripers erase a 4-1 deficit.
Decisive Plays: The Stripers trailed early after a solo home run by Oscar Colas in the first inning. The Knights’ lead expanded to 4-0 in the fourth on a two-run single by Wilmer Difo and a run-scoring wild pitch by Brian Moran. With two outs in the eighth, Worrell doubled to right field and scored on an RBI single by Andrew Velazquez. Down 4-1 in the ninth, the Stripers loaded the bases and cut the deficit to 4-2 on a sacrifice fly by Luke Waddell. Down to the last strike, Gwinnett got a clutch two-run single from Sebastian Rivero to tie the game. After a pitching change, Worrell connected on the first pitch he faced to send the Stripers to a walk-off 6-4 victory.
Key Contributors: Worrell (2-for-4, double, homer, 2 RBIs) had extra-base hits in both the eighth and ninth innings while Rivero (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) had the other multi-RBI game. Phillip Evans and Yuli Gurriel also had hits in the five-run ninth for the Stripers. For Charlotte, starting pitcher Jake Woodford (7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 SO) was masterful in his longest outing of the season. Colas and Difo contributed all three of the RBIs for the Knights.
Noteworthy: The walk-off homer from Worrell was the first for the Stripers since Luke Williams last accomplished the feat on July 22, 2023 vs. Norfolk. Forrest Wall, who entered as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning for Evans, scored on the two-run single by Rivero and has now scored in nine straight contests with the Stripers, one behind the club record of 10. Gwinnett has come from behind in 13 of its 19 victories in 2024, with Sunday marking the club’s largest deficit overcome in a win this year (4 runs).
Next Game (Tuesday, May 14): Gwinnett at Memphis, 6:05 p.m. ET at AutoZone Park. Broadcast: 5:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com. LHP Dylan Dodd (2-3, 4.35 ERA) will start for Gwinnett against TBD for the Redbirds.
Next Home Game (Tuesday, May 21): Gwinnett vs. Jacksonville, 7:05 p.m. ET at Coolray Field. Broadcast: 6:50 p.m. ET on MyCountry993.com and Bally Live. It's the return of Coolray Family Value Tuesday at Coolray Field, with $2 hot dogs and $1 desserts.
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