LAWRENCEVILLE — The Gwinnett Braves won a battle of home runs on Monday to beat the Rochester Red Wings 3-1 and give right-handed starter Victor Mateo a victorious Triple-A debut at Coolray Field.
The G-Braves (57-51) have won four straight games and nine of their last 10 to pull within 2.5 games of Columbus (60-49) in the race for the International League Wild Card. Gwinnett is third in the Wild Card standings, also trailing second-place Charlotte (59-51) by 1.0 game.
After the G-Braves and Red Wings (56-53) traded solo homers through the first four innings,Christian Bethancourt delivered the decisive blow with a two-run homer to left field in the sixth inning against Rochester right-handed starter Jose Berrios. Neither team scored a run without the benefit of a homer.
Bethancourt’s blast broke a 1-1 tie Cedric Hunter created in the fourth inning when he launched his team-leading eighth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field. The G-Braves finished with a season-high two home runs in a game for the seventh time this season and second time at home.
After earning his first Triple-A win against Gwinnett on July 23 in Rochester, Berrios (L, 2-1) suffered his first Triple-A loss at the hands of the G-Braves on Monday. He allowed three runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out four over 7.0 innings. Right-hander A.J. Achter added one strikeout in a scoreless eighth inning.
Gwinnett fell behind 1-0 in the second inning when the first hit Mateo allowed in his Triple-A career was a home run over the right-field wall by Xavier Avery. Mateo (W, 1-0) gave up the lone run on four hits and two walks while striking out three over 6.0 innings. He threw 94 pitches, 57 for strikes.
The Red Wings threatened with runners on second and third in the seventh inning after an infield single and an error, but right-hander Ryan Weber (H, 4) struck out Reynaldo Rodriguez to end the threat. Weber yielded one hit and struck out two batters over 2.0 scoreless innings. Righty Peter Moylan (S, 3) recorded one strikeout in a perfect ninth inning to close out the victory.
Bethancourt and Hunter each had an additional hit off of Berrios to go with their home runs. Bethancourt doubled in the fourth inning, and Hunter singled in the sixth and scored on his teammate’s home run. Bethancourt finished the night 2-for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Hunter went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Aside from Avery’s home run, James Beresford went 1-for-3 with a walk and reached on an error in the seventh inning, Danny Ortiz hit the team’s lone double of the night in the sixth and Chris Herrmann went 1-for-3 with a walk.
The G-Braves and Red Wings will play the second game of their four-game series at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday at Coolray Field. Right-hander Sugar Ray Marimon (3-3, 4.02 ERA) will start for Gwinnett, while fellow right-hander Michael Bowden (7-3, 2.27 ERA) will counter for Rochester. Dave Lezotte has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com beginning at 6 p.m.
All Infield Box and Field Box seats are two for the price of one as part of “Two-For-Tuesday” night at the stadium. To purchase tickets, call the Coolray Field Ticket Office at 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.
