Saturday was a rough day down on the Atlanta Braves farm system, as the teams in the organization combined to drop all six games played. Making things tougher were a JR Ritchie start that lasted just a third of an inning, plus another less than impressive start from Lucas Braun. There were some positives though, as Manuel Campos filled up the boxscore, Jordan Groshans had a monster game, Luke Sinnard had a positive second start in High-A, and Gensi Angeles had another scoreless start.
Nashville Sounds 8, Gwinnett Stripers 3
- Maverick Handley, C: 2-3
- Ben Gamel, CF/RF: 2-4, 2B, R, RBI, .186/.310/.347
- JR Ritchie, SP: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 2.70 ERA
Statcast
JR Ritchie didn’t have his command in this game and turned in one of the shortest starts of his career, lasting just a third of an inning. Ritchie walked four and allowed a hit, and all five of those guys came in to score – though he did record a strikeout for his lone out. Javy Guerra provided some length out of the bullpen, allowing a run over three innings of work before Daysbel Hernandez and Hayden Harris each went an inning and a third – Harris with a scoreless outing and Hernandez allowing two runs. James Karinchak went two scoreless frames with four strikeouts to finish off this game.
The bottom of the order was the only source of offense for the Stripers in this one, as Maverick Handley, Ben Gamel, and Jose Azocar each had two hit days, with Gamel recording a double. Outside of that trio, who hit 6/7/8 in the lineup, singles by Rowdy Tellez and Brewer Hicklen were the only others to reach base safely.
Biloxi Shuckers 9, Columbus Clingstones 4
- Jordan Groshans, 3B: 3-3, HR, BB, R, 3 RBI, .258/.337/.529
- David McCabe, 1B: 1-3, 2B, BB, R, .254/.362/.522
- Lucas Braun, SP: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 7.04 ERA
Lucas Braun made the start in the first game and allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk over five and a third innings. Braun, who has struggled a bit more in his starts with Columbus this year, struck out four and had seven whiffs. Luis Vargas followed Braun and allowed five runs in just two thirds of an inning, before a scoreless inning from Blane Abeyta.
Jordan Groshans went off in the first game, going a perfect three for three with a homer, walk, and three runs batted in. That gives him 10 homers and 27 RBI to go with his .865 OPS for the Clingstones. David McCabe also reached base multiple times, doubling in three at bats, plus a walk and a run scored. Tristin English also added a two-hit game that included a double, while Luke Waddell singled and walked in the loss.
Biloxi Shuckers 5, Columbus Clingstones 0
- Logan Braunschweig, LF: 1-2
- Luke Waddell, SS: 0-2, BB, .242/.363/.377
- Ian Mejia, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 8.82 ERA
The second game saw Ian Mejia make the start and allow five runs (four earned) over five innings of work, allowing six hits and two walks with three strikeouts before giving way to Samuel Strickland. Strickland came out of the pen and pitched the final two innings of scoreless baseball and picked up one strikeout.
The second game saw Columbus get dominated by Biloxi starter Jaron DeBerry, who allowed just one hit and two walks in his seven inning shutout. The recently promoted Logan Braunschweig had the lone hit, a fifth inning single. Luke Waddell and Archer Brookman drew the pair of Clingstones walks, as Waddell reached base for the third time on the day between the two games.
Winston-Salem Dash 6, Rome Emperors 2
- Cody Miller, 3B: 1-3, HR, R, RBI, SB, .193/.298/.330
- Dixon Williams, 2B: 1-4, 2B, .235/.352/.429
- Luke Sinnard, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3.72 ERA
Luke Sinnard made his second start with Rome on Saturday, allowing a pair of runs on three hits and a walk over five innings. Sinnard struck out five with eight whiffs on 78 pitches as he continues to build back up after his late start to the season. Jacob Shafer followed and allowed two runs in his inning, while Justin Long and Riley Frey each allowed a run over an inning of work.
The Emperors managed just two runs on three hits. Cody Miller homered and stole a base, while Dixon Williams added a double. Beyond that the only Emperors to reach base were a walk by Colby Jones and a single from Colin Burgess. Isaiah Drake and John Gil were both hitless, though Gil did steal a base.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2, Augusta GreenJackets 1
- Alex Lodise, SS: 2-4, .251/.338/.399
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 1-4, RBI, .317/.365/.529
- Zach Royse, SP: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 8 K, 4.47 ERA
Zach Royse continued to dominate Low-A hitters on Saturday. He went seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits and no walks, in addition to eight strikeouts and an impressive 22 whiffs. That takes him to 48 strikeouts over 48.1 innings to start the season, and probably gets him closer to a move up the ladder. Lewis Sifontes pitched a scoreless eighth inning to finish things off on the pitching side.
The Augusta offense faced a tough test in this pitchers duel, as outside of a two for four game from Alex Lodise and a two for three with a walk day from Dallas Macias, they had just three additional singles and two walks on a day off for Tate Southisene. Michael Martinez, Luis Guanipa, and Cooper McMurray had the remaining singles.
FCL Rays 12, FCL Braves 3
- Manuel Campos, SS: 2-3, BB, R, 3 SB, .274/.411/.397
- Owen Carey, DH: 0-3, BB, R, SB
- Gensi Angeles, SP: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 2.01 ERA
Gensi Angeles started off with four and a third scoreless innings, allowing just a pair of hits and a pair of walks as the Braves led 3-0. Angeles struck out three and picked up four whiffs in another strong performance. Daniel Brooks followed for the next two outs of the inning and came back for the sixth, but the sixth was a very bad inning as the Braves allowed 10 runs to score. Brooks got one more out, but allowed five runs (two earned) before giving way to Melvin Hidalgo, who walked the five batters he faced and allowed five unearned runs. Edward Cedano pitched one and two thirds scoreless innings before Juan Olmos allowed two additional runs in his inning of work.
On the hitting side Manuel Campos had a game of ups and downs. He went two for three with a walk, stole three bags, and scored a run – but he also made three errors in the field. Rehabbing Owen Carey walked in four plate appearances and stole a base, while Caden Merritt walked, scored a run, and batted one in. Both Campos and Carey had exit velocities above 97 MPH. Diego Tornes was hitless in four at bats.
