G-Braves drop 13th straight, 11-5 at Rochester

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Empire State Yankees sent the Gwinnett Braves to their 13th consecutive loss with an 11-5 drubbing on Thursday night in game three of the four-game series at Frontier Field.

Gwinnett's 13th-straight defeat breaks the franchise record for most consecutive losses, which was originally set by the 2006 Richmond Braves with their 12-game skid. This year's G-Braves have lost 25 of their last 30 games dating back to May 30, including 23 of 28 contests this month. June is set as Gwinnett's first losing month since May 2011 when the G-Braves went 12-16, snapping a six-month non-losing streak.

The Yankees got on the board in the first inning against Gwinnett starting pitcher Julio Teheran. Chris Dickerson led off the game with a single to right and moved to third on a two-out ground rule double by Jack Cust. Russell Branyan followed with a single to right, scoring both Dickerson and Cust to put Empire State up 2-0 after one.

Teheran (L, 5-5) settled down for a scoreless second and a scoreless third, but it all changed in the bottom of the fourth, as Francisco Cervelli tripled to right center and scored on a double to left by Brandon Laird to make it 3-0. A single by Cole Garner put runners on the corners and Ramiro Pena reached on a fielders' choice scoring Laird to make it 4-0. With two outs, Teheran still had a chance to get out of the inning, but Dickerson singled moving Pena to third. Dickerson then stole second putting two men in scoring position for Corban Joseph, who doubled in Pena and Dickerson to move the Yankees lead to 6-0. Ronnier Mustelier singled scoring Joseph from second making it 7-0, and Cust (17) followed with a two run homer to right center to make it 9-0 Yankees. That would be the end of the night for Teheran, he worked 3.2 innings, giving up 10 hits and nine earned runs, alongside four strikeouts and no walks. Adam Russell in from the bullpen and would not allow any more runs in the fourth. Russell worked 1.1 scoreless innings and allowed one hit. Jaye Chapman pitched two scoreless innings, surrendering one hit, three walks and struck out three, meanwhile D.J. Carrasco gave up two hits, two earned runs and walked one in his one inning of work.

The G-Braves finally scored in the top of the seventh as Josh Wilson stroked a two-out double to left and scored on a double to center by J.C. Boscan to make it a 9-1 game.

Back-to-back singles by Joseph and Mustelier and a walk to Cust loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth against Carrasco. Branyan plated Joseph with a sac fly to center to make it 10-1 and Cervelli scored Mustelier from third on a sac fly to left to make it 11-1.

The G-Braves made a late push in the top of the ninth against Yankees' reliever Preston Claiborne, who was making his first career Triple-A appearance. Ruben Gotay drew a one out walk and Shawn McGill, pinch-hitting for Wilson, singled to center, then Claiborne walked Boscan to load the bases. With two outs, Jose Constanza singled to left scoring Gotay to make it an 11-2 game. Tyler Pastornicky followed with a single to center scoring McGill and Boscan to make it an 11-4 game. Ernesto Mejia then singled to left scoring Constanza from second to make it 11-5, which would be the final.

John Maine (W, 2-2) started for the Yankees and worked five scoreless innings, giving up four hits while walking one and striking out six. Chase Whitley worked three innings of relief with two hits and one earned run, as he walked one and struck out two. Claiborne gave up four hits and four earned runs in the ninth, as he walked two and struck out one.

Offensively for the G-Braves, Constanza was 2-for-5 and Pastornicky was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Wilson went 2-for-3 with two doubles, and Felix Pie was 1-for-5 with a triple (5) to extend his hit-streak to 11 games.

Dickerson, Joseph, Mustelier, Cust, Laird and Garner each had two hits for the Yankees. Branyan had three RBIs while Joseph and Cust had two each.

The Gwinnett Braves (37-45) play the Empire State Yankees (44-37) in the series finale Friday night in Rochester. The G-Braves will have southpaw Jose Lugo (1-3, 4.24) on the mound against the Yankees TBA (0-0, 0.00) in a 7:05 p.m. scheduled first pitch at Frontier Field. The Yankees original starter, right-hander Adam Warren (5-5, 3.86), was called-up to the New York Yankees for a spot-start against the Chicago White Sox on Friday. Listen to the G-Braves broadcast on WDUN AM 550 in Gainesville, Georgia with Tony Schiavone calling the play by play.