(51-66) Louisville Bats 0, (48-68) Gwinnett Stripers 1
•Jesús Bastidas, 2B: 2-for-4, HR, RBI, R, .429/.500/.857
•Luke Waddell, SS: 2-for-3, BB, .295/.403/.385
•Matthew Batten, 1B: 2-for3, .193/.264/.331
•JR Ritchie, SP: 6IP 2H 0R 1BB 6K, 3.21 ERA
•Connor Seabold, RP: 2IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K, 6.29 ERA
The trio of arms that the Stripers employed last night absolutely shut down the Bats, giving the Stripers the thrilling 1-0 win. JR Ritchie set the tone of the game in the very first inning as he struck out the games first two batters before retiring the third
on just two pitches. He would go on to arguably have his finest game as a professional – striking out six and giving up just a pair of single. He was relieved by the recently acquired Connor Seabold, who pounded the zone and worked a pair of scoreless innings. The game was then closed out by Wander Suero (1IP 1H 0R 1BB 2K) who would work around a little traffic thanks to a walk and single before ultimately picking up his 12th save of the season.
With the Stripers pitching staff doing a lot of the heavy lifting, the offense had to get something done and they turned to another recently acquired player – this time Jesús Bastidas who scored the only run of the game, courtesy of this solo homer.
While the sample size is just four games, Bastidas has been on fire hitting .429/.500/.857 with three doubles and a homer. The Stripers as a whole weren’t that great, however, as the team would go 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, and would strand eight on base. Luke Waddell did pick up another multi-hit game and is now slashing .295/.403/.385 on the season.
(46-62) Columbus Clingstones 8, (61-50) Biloxi Shuckers 14
•Patrick Clohisy, RF: 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2R, .306/.370/.429
•Jim Jarvis, 2B: 2-for-3, 2 2B, RBI, 2 BB, 2 R, .250/.313/.341
•David McCabe, 3B; 2-for-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, R, .286/.376/.429
•Adam Żebrowski, C: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB, R, .216/.282/.344
•Lucas Braun, SP: 4.2IP 5H 6R 5ER 4BB 8K, 4.35 ERA
A sentence I didn’t think I’d type this season, the red hot Clingstones offense rattled off another nine hits, collected seven walks, and scored eight runs but it just wasn’t enough as the Columbus pitching staff struggled from the very start. Lucas Braun struggled with some questionable defense behind up – giving up five earned runs and failed to get into the fifth inning. LC McDonough (1.1IP 3H 3ER 1BB 1K), Elison Joseph (0.2IP 1H 4ER 3BB 0K), and Blane Abeyta (1.1IP 2H 1ER 0BB 0K) pitched the final innings and all struggled in their own ways, especially Elison Joseph who had been strong of late, but lost control of everything.
It was disappointing because as stated above, the Clingstones offense showed out yet again. David McCabe continued his torrid hitting – collecting another double, and yet another opposite field homer.
Jim Jarvis collected one of his best games of the season – getting on base four times, twice via a double. Adam Zebrowski hit his eight homer of the season as well, also going to the opposite field.
(58-50) Bowling Green Hot Rods 0, (45-63) Rome Emperors 1 – F/7
•Colby Jones, 3B: 1-for-3, R, SB, .340/.392/.383
•Isaiah Drake, CF: 1-for-3, RBI, .255/.300/.277
•Logan Braunschweig, LF: 2-for-3, .360/.429/.440
•Herick Hernandez, SP: 4IP 1H 0R 6BB 5K, 3.87 ERA
•Riley Frey, RP: 3IP 3H 0R 0BB 1K, 4.63 ERA
Herick Hernandez pitched what is quickly becoming the paramount Herick Hernandez game – effectively wild. Herick would strike out five over four scoreless innings in a complete game shutout by the Emperors pitching staff. That’s three straight scoreless outings for Herick whose ERA is now back down to 3.87 on the season. Riley Frey would work the games final three scoreless innings – absolutely pounding the zone with 20 of his 26 pitches going for strikes.
The dynamic pitching meant the Emperors offense didn’t need much, and like the Stripers, that’s exactly what happened. They would score their lone run in the first thanks in huge part to Colby Jones who singled, stole second, and came to score the games only run on an Isaiah Drake single. Colby has been on fire since his promotion, hitting .340/.392/.383 across 13 games. With his stolen base in the first, he also hit the 60 stolen base mark for the season. Logan Braunschweig was the only one on the Emperors with a multi-hit game and has quickly settled in – with an .869 OPS since joining the organization.
(58-51) Bowling Green Hot Rods 0, (46-63) Rome Emperors 2
•Colby Jones, SS: 1-for-2, RBI, BB, .340/.392/.383
•Isaiah Drake, CF: 1-for-3, .255/.300/.277
•Keshawn Ogans, 3B: 2-for-3, RBI, .271/.380/.365
•Jacob Kroeger, SP: 6IP 1H 0R 2BB 1K, 2.04 ERA
•Jacob Gomez, RP: 1IP 1H 0R 1BB 1K, 3.04 ERA
The excellent pitching continued in game 2 as Jacob Gomez twirled an absolute gem – pitching six of the seven innings of the game and giving the Emperors the double header sweep. The six scoreless innings extends Jacob’s impressive August as he’s given up just one earned run over three starts (15.1 innings). He’s been nothing short of dominant for the Emperors as he lowered his ERA to 2.04 since joining the Emperors. Jacob Gomez worked the final inning of the game, allowing a pair of hitters on base, before closing out the game.
The Emperors offense, just like game one, did just enough to give them the sweep – actually DOUBLING their offensive output from game one! Colby Jones came up huge again for the Emperors, hitting an RBI single in the first. They would add another run in the fourth inning from an RBI double by Keshawn Ogans.
(58-49) Augusta GreenJackets 5, (52-59) Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 1
•Eric Hartman, CF: 1-for-3, R, RBI, 2 SB (37), .251/.353/.400
•John Gil, SS: 3-for-4, 2B, HR, SB (44), 2 RBI, R, BB, .251/.342/.359
•Owen Carey, DH: 2-for-5, 2B, .261/.333/.346
•Douglas Glod, RF: 1-for-4, RBI, R, 2B, .231/.363/.376
•Kendy Richard, SP: 4IP 3H 1ER 2BB 4K, 0.66 ERA
•Owen Hackman, RP: 3.2IP 4H 0R 0BB 4K, 3.83 ERA
The surging GreenJackets picked up their six straight win, thanks again to a dominant performance. Kendy Richard’s scoreless streak finally ended, but he gave up just one earned run across four innings. Owen Hackman would come in for Kendy and work 3.2 strong innings himself – picking up the win with another strong appearance. Trent Buchanan would pitch the games final 1.1 innings, striking out two.
It was yet another great offensive performance for the GreenJackets as they registered nine hits, five XBH, and stole an additional four bases while scoring five runs. The tone for the game was set early with Eric Hartman who was hit by a pitch, before stealing second and third, and scoring on a wild pitch. John Gil continued his hot streak, with his third homer in just four games. He would also double, and steal his 44th bag of the season, in what has been an extremely encouraging year. While Nick Montgomery was hitless, he did walk twice. Dallas Macias, the Braves 15th round draft pick this year, picked up his first professional hit.
(30-21) DSL Red Sox Blue 7, (20-30) DSL Braves 0
•Gabriel Cesa, CF: 0-for-3, .301/.427/.446
•Angel Carmona, SS: 1-for-3, .234/.351/.422
•Juan Espinal, DH: 0-for-3, 220/.409/.417
•Luisberth Valdez, SP: 3IP 7H 3ER 2BB 4K, 4.941 ERA
The DSL Braves were absolutely shut down, recording just one hit in a 7-0 shut out loss to the Red Sox Blue. Angel Carmona picked up the only hit for the Braves in the game.
