Taylor Motter shines in Stripers’ loss at Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Taylor Motter went 4-for-4 with a double, two home runs and two RBIs on Thursday afternoon, but the Gwinnett Stripers lost 6-2 to the Buffalo Bisons at Sahlen Field.

Buffalo (68-62) broke a 1-1 tie with five runs in the sixth inning.

Motter’s solo shot (15) off Casey Lawrence gave the Stripers (61-69) a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but Stevie Berman’s solo homer (5) off Ian Anderson tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth. In the sixth, RBI hits by Vinny Capra and Rafael Lantigua gave the Bisons a 3-1 lead and chased Anderson from the game. Later in the sixth, Yoshi Tsutsugo’s three-run clout (6) off William Woods put the game out of reach at 6-1. Motter laced a homer off the batter’s eye in center in the seventh, but the comeback fell short at 6-2.

Motter had four of Gwinnett’s five hits on the day, with Hendrik Clementina adding a single (1-for-3). For Buffalo, Tsutsugo went 1-for-4 with the homer and three RBIs, and Lantigua went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Nate Pearson (W, 1-0) pitched a scoreless sixth for the win.

Motter now has three two-homer games with Gwinnett this season, and 12 career multi-homer games. He finished a triple shy of the cycle. With nine strikeouts, the Stripers’ pitching staff reached 1,229 for the year, a new single-season Gwinnett record (previous was 1,223 strikeouts by the 2011 staff).

Gwinnett and Buffalo will play a doubleheader Friday beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Sahlen Field.