Brett Wisely had already helped pull Gwinnett even when he came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning. This time, another rally did not have to be followed by another answer.
Wisely lined a single to left, scoring Chuckie Robinson and completing the Stripers’ climb out of four separate multi-run deficits in an 8-7 victory over the Indianapolis Indians on Friday at Gwinnett Field.
Gwinnett trailed 4-0, 5-2, 6-4 and 7-5. Each time the Stripers closed the gap, Indianapolis stretched it again. They finally caught the Indians in the ninth, and Wisely’s first hit of the game ended it an inning later.
Jordan Groshans opened the bottom of the 10th with a single that moved automatic runner Robinson to third. Indianapolis reliever Michael Darrell-Hicks struck out Lizandro Espinoza, intentionally walked Luke Williams and struck out Patrick Clohisy, bringing Wisely up with no margin left in the inning.
His line drive to left brought Robinson home and left the rest of the Stripers pouring onto the field. Wisely finished 1-for-1 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
The winning swing belonged to Wisely, but José Azócar kept giving Gwinnett a way back into the game. Azócar went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run, including the tying single in the ninth.
That rally began with one out against Beau Burrows. Maverick Handley walked, Clohisy entered to run for him and Wisely drew another walk. Jim Jarvis sent a ground-ball single into right to score Clohisy and move Wisely to third. Azócar followed with a sharp liner to left, bringing Wisely home for a 7-7 tie.
Burrows was charged with three earned runs in two-thirds of an inning and his fourth blown save.
The comeback had been building in pieces all night. Indianapolis scored twice in both the second and third innings, with Nick Cimillo’s two-run homer and Enmanuel Valdez’s RBI triple helping create a 4-0 lead. Gwinnett answered in the third when Handley scored on a throwing error and Azócar grounded an RBI single to right.
After Indianapolis restored a three-run cushion in the fifth, Azócar singled to begin the sixth and scored on Rowdy Tellez’s 22nd double. David McCabe followed with a sharp ground-ball single to center, scoring Tellez and trimming the deficit to 5-4.
The Indians pushed the lead back to two on Cimillo’s sacrifice fly in the seventh. Groshans responded in the eighth, lining his third home run to left off Burrows. Groshans finished 2-for-5 and added the single that set up the winning inning.
Indianapolis again created separation in the ninth when Cimillo lifted another sacrifice fly, scoring Jesus Castillo for a 7-5 advantage. It proved to be the Indians’ final run.
Gwinnett starter Cedric De Grandpre allowed four earned runs over 5 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking two. Michael Grove recorded the final out of the sixth, while Joe Jiménez allowed the seventh-inning run. Joel Payamps worked a scoreless eighth, and Ian Hamilton surrendered one run in the ninth.
That left James Karinchak to handle the automatic runner in the 10th. He got Grae Kessinger on a sacrifice bunt that moved Tyler Callihan to third, struck out Christian Bethancourt and induced a soft groundout from Mitch Jebb to keep the game tied. Karinchak earned the win and improved to 4-3.
The Stripers finished with 10 hits, none more final than Wisely’s last one. After spending the night erasing Indianapolis leads, Gwinnett made sure there was no inning left for the Indians to build another.