LAWRENCEVILLE — Christian Bethancourt ended a back-and-forth affair between the Gwinnett Braves and the Buffalo Bisons with a “walk-off” single in the 10th inning, sending the G-Braves to a 6-5 win on Saturday at Coolray Field.
The red-hot G-Braves (61-52) have won 13 of their last 15 games, the club’s best 15-game stretch since also going 13-2 from July 27 through August 10, 2010. Gwinnett has also won 11 straight games over the Bisons (58-56) dating back to May 5, 2014.
The G-Braves are in second place in the International League Wild Card standings, 1.5 games behind Columbus, who lost 12-0 to Lehigh Valley on Saturday.
Bethancourt got his game-winning hit with one out against Buffalo right-handed reliever Steve Delabar (L, 3-1) to drive in Eric Young, Jr., who had drawn a one-out walk and stole his second base of the night to reach scoring position. It was the team’s 18th win in their last at-bat this season and league-leading 10th victory in extra innings.
Young also came up clutch in the seventh and eighth innings for Gwinnett. He singled home Mallex Smith in the seventh against right-handed reliever Chad Jenkins (BS, 3) to tie the game at 3-3 and scored later in the inning to put Gwinnett in front 4-3.
Gwinnett right-handed reliever David Carpenter (BS, 2) gave up two runs in the top of the eighth that turned the 4-3 lead into a 5-4 deficit. He walked two and gave up two singles without recording an out before righty Carlos Fisher (W, 2-4) took over. Fisher got out of the inning without further damage and pitched the final 3.0 innings of the game scoreless with two hits allowed and a walk.
The G-Braves trailed 5-4 in the eighth inning, but Young came through again with a single scoring Smith to tie the game at 5-5. Smith had reached base on a two-out double off right-hander Ryan Tepera (BS, 1).
Gwinnett initially trailed by as many as three runs after Buffalo scored twice against right-handed starter Victor Mateo in the third and George Kottaras hit a solo home run to right field in the fourth. Mateo completed 6.0 innings with three runs allowed (two earned) on five hits and four walks. He struck out six batters and threw 110 pitches (65 strikes).
Then the G-Braves went to work against Buffalo starting pitcher Jeff Francis. The left-hander had thrown scoreless baseball over the first 5.0 innings, but Cedric Hunter led off the sixth with a triple to ignite a two-run rally closing the gap to 3-2. Francis finished with 6.0 innings pitched, two runs allowed on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts and a wild pitch.
The top two hitters in the Gwinnett lineup, Smith and Young, both had three hits and scored twice. Young also had two RBIs.
Matt Hague had three hits and an RBI to lead the Buffalo offense.
The G-Braves conclude the homestand with the finale of their three-game series against Buffalo at 2:05 p.m. on Sunday at Coolray Field. Right-hander Sugar Ray Marimon (3-3, 3.92 ERA) will start for Gwinnett against righty and International League ERA leader Scott Copeland (8-3, 2.11 ERA) for the Bisons. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com beginning at 1:30 p.m.
After regular “Sunday Funday” activities such as Pre-Game Catch on the Field and post-game Kids Run the Bases, 100 pre-selected fans will get the chance to dig for 10 pieces of assorted diamond jewelry, provided by Dynasty Jewelry and Loan, on the field. The contest and game are sponsored by Georgia 811 in support of their “Call Before You Dig” campaign. To purchase tickets, call the Coolray Field Ticket Office at 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.
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