(22-13) Gwinnett Stripers 8, (13-21) Norfolk Tide 6
- Anthony Molina, SP: 3IP 5H 4ER 1BB 2K, 5.82 ERA
- Victor Mederos, RP: 4IP 2H 0R 0BB 6K, 1.62 ERA
- James Karinchak, RP: 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K, 2.16 ERA
- DaShawn Keirsey, RF: 2-for-5, RBI, 2 R, 2B, .260/.299/.440
- Brewer Hicklen, CF: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, .304/.402/.481
- Luke Williams, DH: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, .243/.303/.429
With 40% of the Stripers starting pitching currently in Atlanta, the Stripers had another bullpen game and picked up another win in what has been a great start to the season for the Braves Triple-A affiliate. They turned to Anthony Molina who had his struggles, but still kept the Stripers in the game, giving up four over three innings of work. A majority of the damage against him came in the first inning when he gave surrendered back-to-back home runs, including one two run home run, that
put the Stripers down 3-0. He surrendered a fourth run in the third inning, but left the game down two because Brewer Hicklen hit a two run home run of his own in the second inning.
The Stripers would tack on another run in the fifth inning when rehabbing Ha-Seong Kim hit a run scoring single to lessen the deficit to one run at 4-3. Luckily for the Stripers they turned to Victor Mederos who was absolutely lights out, getting nine whiffs and six strikeouts across four great innings. This allowed DaShawn Keirsey Jr. to come up big in the top of the eighth with an RBI double that scored Nacho Alvarez Jr., to tie the game at 4 each. Two batters later Chadwick Tromp singled in DaShawn to give the Stripers their first lead of the game.
Unfortunately, Joel Payamps would come in for Mederos and blow the save, giving up two runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning, once again swinging the game back in favor of the Tides. That leads us to the top half of the ninth when some very spotty pitching for the Tides greatly aided the Stripers. A pair of singles by Ben Gamel, and Luke Williams put two on with zero out. After a failed sacrifice bunt by Brett Wisely, Aaron Schunk walked to load the bases with one out, on an overturned call via ABS. Nacho Alvarez walked right after to tie the game back up at 6-6. With Rowdy Tellez up, the Tide then balked in what would become the game winning run.
Rowdy would then hit a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 8-6 and give the Stripers the win – following a 1-2-3 inning by James Karinchak, needing just 11 pitches (9 strikes).
(15-14) Columbus Clingstones 8, (12-17) Biloxi Shuckers 7
- Jack Dashwood, SP: 0.2IP 4H 6ER 2BB 1K, 8.82 ERA
- Elison Joseph, RP: 2IP 0H 0R 2BB 4K, 3.21 ERA
- Tyler LaPorte, RP: 2IP 1H 0R 1BB 3K, 1.54 ERA
- Adam Żebrowski, C: 3-for-4, HR, 3 R, RBI, BB, .286/.388/.607
- Jordan Groshans, 3B: 1-for-4, HR, 2 R, BB, .230/.294/.520
- Ethan Workinger, LF: 1-for-2, 2 RBI, R, 2 BB, .176/.269/.324
In a tale as old as…well this season, it was the Clingstones offense that once again bailed out the Clingstones pitching staff giving them the win, and once again the division lead. The Clingstones starter, Jack Dashwood, had well lets just say a horrible start to the game allowing six earned runs on just forty pitches – including two walks, a double, and a grand slam putting the Clingstones down 6-0 in the first. However, after Jacob Wallace allowed a single run in the second, the rest of the staff dug deep and silenced the Shuckers the final seven innings. The trio of relievers Elison Joseph (2IP 0H 0R 2BB 4K), Luis Vargas (2IP 0H 0R 1BB 3K), and Tyler LaPorte (2IP 1H 0R 1BB 3K) silenced the bats, without any real threats. This allowed for what has become a strong Clingstones offense to try to break through – and that’s exactly what happened – and it didn’t even take that long.
The Clingstones put up two runs in the second inning with an RBI single by Cal Conley drove in Jordan Groshans to lessen the lead to 6-1. One batter later it was Ethan Workinger who hit a sacrifice fly that scored Adam Zebrowski to make it 6-2. The bats would catch fire in the third inning scoring five runs. With two outs and nobody on Jordan Groshans hit his seventh homer of the season to make it 7-3.
It has been a hilarious season for Jordan who has more extra-base hits (12), than walks (9) which gives him an OBP of .294, but a SLG of .520. After loading the bases on the next three batters (1B, 1B, BB), Ethan Workinger hit an infield single to make it 7-4. Tyler Tolve would then follow it up with a bases clearing double to tie the game at 7-7.
The Clingstones would then be held in check until the seventh inning when Adam Zebrowski, who is on a serious heater right now, hit his sixth homer of the season giving the Clingstones the 8-7 lead, and eventually the win.
(14-14) Rome Emperors @ (7-21) Asheville Tourists (POSTPONED)
This one got rained out, so Rome will have to wait until at least Thursday before trying to get back to over .500.
(15-14) Augusta GreenJackets 4, (18-11) Charleston RiverDogs 5
- Tate Southisene, 2B: 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, R
- Alex Lodise, SS: 1-4
- John Estevez, LF: 3-4, RBI, R
- Derek Vartanian, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 7 K
Despite getting a moonshot of a homer from Tate Southisene and holding a one-run lead at one point during the game, Augusta failed to hold onto that lead and ultimately dropped to 15-14 on the season.
Derek Vartanian got the start on the mound for Augusta and did his best to keep the GreenJackets in the game for as long as he could. In five innings of work, Vartanian scattered four hits while allowing two runs and striking out seven.
Trailing 2-0 headed into the bottom of the fifth, Augusta would finally put up a crooked number on the scoreboard — thanks in large part to Southisene.
John Estevez — who tallied three total hits on the day — put the GreenJackets on the board with an RBI-single that plated Junior Garcia.
With Estevez at first base, Southisene took an 0-1 breaking ball and pummeled it over the left field wall for his fifth homer of the season t0 give Augusta the 3-2 lead.
Southisene has absolutely exceeded expectations early on this season, as the 19-year-old is working with a .280 average and an OPS of .923 across 131 plate appearances. He also has four doubles, a pair of triples and 17 RBI to go along with his five homers as well.
While he can get a little over happy with pitches up in the zone, overall he has shown a much better feel for the zone, as he has tended to not chase breaking balls, especially in the lower half.
Getting back to Wednesday’s action, Charleston was able to knot things at 3-3 in the top of the seventh, as the RiverDogs were able to work around a leadoff strikeout by Adiel Melendez to sandwich a pair of singles around a walk.
The RiverDogs tacked on two more runs off of Melendez in the top of the eighth to extend their lead to 5-3.
While Augusta would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the ninth — thanks to an RBI-single from Southisene — the GreenJackets ultimately fell short by the 5-4 final.
