LAWRENCEVILLE — Gwinnett left-handed pitcher Greg Smith matched his longest start of the season with seven scoreless innings in the Gwinnett Braves’ 1-0 victory over the Norfolk Tides Monday at Coolray Field.
Smith (W, 2-3) allowed four hits, walked none and struck out two in a 79-pitch, 58-strike outing. Right-handed reliever Aaron Kurcz (H, 2) gave up nothing more than a one-out single in the eighth, and righty Ryan Kelly (S, 2) struck out two after a leadoff single by Rey Navarro in the ninth to seal the club’s seventh shutout win of the year.
The game lasted just 2 hours, 4 minutes, making it the G-Braves’ fastest nine-inning game this season.
Barrett Kleinknecht scored the lone run of the game after he led off the sixth inning with a ground-rule double on a ball that bounced over the left-field wall. His hit broke a streak of 13 straight batters retired by Norfolk right-handed starter Zach Davies. Kleinknecht moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Eury Perez and scored on an RBI single to right by Jose Peraza.
Peraza’s game-deciding hit also ended the team’s longest scoring drought of the season at 15.2 innings.
Davies (L, 3-4) gave up the lone run on three hits and a walk while striking out three over 6.0 innings before he gave way to righty Michael Bowden. The G-Braves (28-28) managed one hit in 2.0 innings against Bowden, who threw 17 of his 20 pitches for strikes.
Atlanta Braves’ outfielder Kelly Johnson went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and played left field for Gwinnett in the first game of his minor league rehab assignment. He has been on Atlanta’s 15-day disabled list since May 14 with a right oblique strain.
For the G-Braves, Peraza went 1-for-3 with the RBI and his 16th stolen base of the season. Kleinknecht and Daniel Castro each went 1-for-3, and Perez was 1-for-2.
Designated hitter Christian Walker was one of five Norfolk batters to reach base and the only one to move past first base when he doubled in the seventh inning. Walker finished 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
Gwinnett and Norfolk (32-25) will play the middle game of their three-game series at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday at Coolray Field. Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang (2-5, 5.83 ERA) will get the start for the G-Braves, while the Tides will send righty Tyler Wilson (2-4, 3.00 ERA) to the mound. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com beginning at 6:00 p.m.
All Infield Box and Field Box seats are two for the price of one as part of “Two-For-Tuesday” at Coolray Field. To purchase tickets, call the Coolray Field Ticket Office at 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.
