The Gwinnett Stripers held leads of 2-0 and 4-3 but couldn’t put away the host Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in their International League season opener, losing 5-4 on Friday night.
J.P. Martinez doubled on the first pitch of the game and scored on a double by Luis Liberato, staking the Stripers to a 1-0 lead. Martinez’s solo home run to right field made it 2-0 in the third.
After Jacksonville scored three runs off Gwinnett starter Darius Vines to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth, Luke Williams tied the game at 3 with a solo homer to left in the fifth.
Gwinnett took the lead at 4-3 in the seventh on a run-scoring error by the Jumbo Shrimp but couldn’t hold it.
Martinez finished 2-for-3 with a double, homer, RBI and two stolen bases. Liberato went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and one RBI.
Vines worked five innings and allowed three runs on five hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.
The game marked the Triple-A managerial debut of Gwinnett’s Kanekoa Texeira.
