Despite the final score, things actually started out on a positive note for Gwinnett. To leadoff the game, Forrest Wall launched his third homer of the year to stake the Stripers to a 1-0 lead. After David Fletcher drew a walk, a Yuli Gurriel triple brought him home to extend the Gwinnett lead to 2-0.
Stripers starter Darius Vines allowed one of those runs back in the bottom of the second inning as Memphis cut the lead to 2-1. The Redbirds would tag VInes for two more runs in the bottom of the third and one run in the bottom of the fourth as Memphis took a 4-2 lead. Things went from bad to worse for Vines and Gwinnett as he — and Brooks Wilson who came on in relief in the fifth inning — allowed five more runs as Memphis extended their lead to 9-2.
Memphis got another run, their tenth of the game, in the bottom of the seventh off Jimmy Herget to take an eight-run lead over the Stripers.
Gwinnett finally produced another run, albeit in the top of the ninth on a Phillip Evans solo home run to make it a 10-3 ballgame. However, that was all the offense the Stripers got — especially in the latter half of the game — in the loss.
On a positive pitching note, David Fletcher — yes, that David Fletcher — was called on in relief to save the bullpen and tossed a scoreless inning, allowing just one walk and striking out three batters in the frame.
