Ryan LaMarre regrouped from a rough 0-for-the weekend, got a little home cooking, and played a great game for the AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, the Gwinnett Stripers in a 9-8 win over the Charlotte Knights, a AAA-affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
Starting in right field and batting 8th, LaMarre would get the scoring started for the Stripers, who were trailing 3-0, in the bottom of the second. Adam Duvall would pop out to third to open the inning, Raffy Lopez would then single to right, and Travis Demeritte followed with a walk. The next batter, Pedro Florimon, hit a tapper to first, but avoided a double play. With Lopez on third and Demeritte on second, LaMarre would single to left, scoring Lopez and Demeritte and pulling the Stripers to within a run.
In the bottom of the fourth, with Gwinnett now trailing 5-2, Duvall would walk and then score on a Raffy Lopez double. Following a Travis Demeritte line out and Pedro Florimon grounded out, LaMarre singled to right, scoring Lopez and again getting the Stripers to within one.
The Stripers bats came alive in the fifth, scoring 4 runs in the inning and taking an 8-5 lead. LaMarre would fly out to end the inning following a 2-run single by Florimon.
In the top of the sixth, LaMarre would allow the Knights to come to within 1 run of tying the game after a Ryan Cordell single to him; and allowed two runs to score on an error.
Following the rough fielding inning, LaMarre would return to the plate for the fourth and final time in the game, ripping a double to to right which scored Demeritte, who had walked two batters prior. His 4th RBI made the game 9-7. A Nicky Delmonico home run for Charlotte made the game 9-8. Elian Leyva would come in to record his first save of the year for Gwinnett and seal the win for the Stripers.
LaMarre finished 3-for-4 with 4 RBI. He is now hitting .290 (9-for-31) on the year with 7 RBI, 2 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 stolen bases in 10 games.
Gwinnett continues their 4 game series with game number 2 at home against the Charlotte Knights from Coolray Field. With the win, Gwinnett (7-4) overtakes Charlotte (7-5) for first place in the International League South Division.