Aside from Gwinnett, it was an all-around great day for Atlanta’s minor league affiliates, as Augusta and Columbus’ offense broke out, while Rome lost a tight one, but still had some standout performers on the day. Let’s dive into it all.
(47-68) Gwinnett Stripers 2, (51-65) Louisville Bats 14
- Luke Waddell, 2B: 2-3, 2B, RBI
- Jesus Bastidas. 3B: 1-3, 2B, R
- Davis Daniel, SP: 2.1 IP, 10 H, 9 ER, 2 K
As the score suggests, this was an abysmal game for Gwinnett. The Stripers tallied just two runs on four hits while Louisville strung together a 14-run outing after shelling starter Davis Daniel, who
we will get to in a moment.
Offensively, Luke Waddell and Jesus Bastidas really had the only games worth writing home about in this one, as both guys notched a double to their credit, while Waddell drove in a run and Bastidas scored one of Gwinnett’s two runs on the day.
As for Daniel, it’s hard to imagine a rougher start. Overall, he lasted just 2.1 innings, as Louisville knocked him around, tallying nine runs on 10 hits while he only managed to strike out a pair of batters. If there was a positive note for Daniel — and that’s a large “if” — it’s that he didn’t walk anyone in this one.
(46-61) Columbus Clingstones 9, (60-50) Biloxi Shuckers. 4
- David McCabe, DH: 3-4, 2 HR, 2B, 7 RBI, 2 R, BB
- Jim Jarvis, 3B: 2-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R
- Anderson Espinoza, SS: 1-5, 2B, 3 R
- Brian Moran, SP: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB
You would be hard-pressed to find a better offensive performance throughout the minor leagues on Wednesday than David McCabe’s. Of the nine total runs that crossed the plate for Columbus, McCabe was responsible for driving in a whopping seven of them. On top of that, McCabe launched a pair of home runs and a double to his credit, putting together his best game of the season thus far in the process.
McCabe has been one of the hottest hitters over the past week, not just in Atlanta’s system, but all of minor league baseball. Over his past five games, McCabe has tallied four home runs to go along with 13 RBI while raising his season OPS to .805 in the process. What makes McCabe’s Wednesday outing so much more encouraging was his plate discipline while also launching a pair of homers. In those respective at-bats, McCabe managed to work a full count and forced Biloxi’s pitchers to throw a minimum of seven pitches in each at-bat.
While McCabe understandably grabbed most of the spotlight, other Clingstones put up respectable performances on Wednesday night as well. Jim Jarvis went 2-5 with a double and an RBI to go along with a pair of runs scored, while Anderson Espinoza — who went 1-5 with a double — managed to account for three of Columbus’ total runs scored.
On the mound, Brian Moran got the start and while he wasn’t exactly great, luckily his offense was able to pick up the rest of the slack. In 4.1 innings of work, Moran surrendered five runs on six hits while walking a pair of batters and failing to strike anyone out.
As for a positive pitching note, the Columbus bullpen came through to preserve the lead, as Rolddy Munoz — 2.2 innings and three strikeouts — and Amos Willingham — two innings and four strikeouts — combined to shut Biloxi down after Moran gave way and sealed off the Clingstones win.
(44-63) Rome Emperors 4, (58-49) Bowling Green Hot Rods 6
- Logan Braunschweig, LF: 1-4, 2 RBI, R
- Colby Jones, 3B: 2-4, RBI
- Luke Sinnard, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
For a short while on Wednesday, it appeared as though things were going to go Rome’s way. Tied at 1-1, the Emperors broke out for three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead.
The biggest plays of the inning came on a Logan Braunschweig single that resulted in Isaiah Drake and Mason Guerra scoring while Braunschweig took second on an error. In the next at-bat, after Braunschweig took third on a wild pitch, he came across to score courtesy of an Ambioris Tavarez RBI-single into left field to extend the Rome lead.
Meanwhile on the mound, Luke Sinnard got the start and while he wasn’t great, he wasn’t exactly bad either. In five innings of work, the 6’8 righthander scattered four hits and allowed four runs while striking out four on the night.
While it has only been two starts, August has not been kind to Sinnard. In nine total innings of work, Sinnard has been tagged for seven runs on 10 hits while striking out seven batters. He has also issued five walks during that span, which is a stark contrast to his July outings in which he didn’t give up a single free pass in his two starts last month.
Getting back to Wednesday’s action, the Emperors struggled offensively after their fourth inning outburst. In fact, the only other time Rome would put a runner in scoring position the rest of the game came in the bottom of the fifth inning as Colby Jones singled and moved up to second on a wild pitch, but the Emperors failed to bring him across.
(57-49) Augusta GreenJackets 13, (52-58) Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 1
- Cody Miller, 3B: 2-6, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R
- Owen Carey, LF: 2-6, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Luis Guanipa, RF: 2-4, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
- Cam Caminiti, SP: 4 IP, 5 H, ER, 3 BB, 4 K
While David McCabe put up the best individual performance amongst Braves prospects, the Augusta GreenJackets get credit for stringing together the best collective outing on Wednesday.
In total, the GreenJackets crossed the plate 13 times on 19 hits while working six walks in the process. What’s more impressive is that each GreenJacket in the starting lineup tallied at least two hits — with the exception of Joe Olsavsky who went 1-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a pair of walks to his credit.
Cody Miller continued his hot streak since joining Augusta, going 2-6 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored on the night. With his performance, Miller raised his season OPS to .925 across 32 at-bats. It may be a small sample size, but Miller has been absolutely squaring the ball up and making hard contact which has led to him having arguably the best overall start amongst all of Atlanta’s recent draft picks.
Other offensive standouts on the day include Owen Carey who tripled and brought home two runs, and Luis Guanipa who continues to show he might have taken that next step when it comes to plate discipline and feel for the zone, as the rightfielder went 2-4 with a pair of walks on the night.
Normally, when Cam Caminiti is on he mound, the young lefty is typically the talk of Augusta’s game. While he was once again excellent — tossing four innings of one-run ball while striking out four — the offensive output was enough to overshadow what was another significant performance from Caminiti.
In what was his tenth start for Augusta, Caminiti continues to lower his ERA at the low-A level. For the GreenJackets, Caminiti has posted a stellar 2.29 ERA in 39.1 innings pitched to this point, striking out 55 batters along the way.
