(11-6) Gwinnett Stripers 10, (12-5) Memphis Redbirds 3
- Aaron Schunk, 2B: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R, BB
- Brett Wisely, 3B: 2-5, 2B, R
- Anthony Molina, SP: 4.1 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 3 K
Gwinnett got a plethora of offensive firepower, as the Stripers beat a very talented Memphis Redbirds team to move to 11-6 on the season.
Above all others, Aaron Schunk continues to absolutely rake with the Stripers, as he homered and drove in three runs while raising his OPS to .979 on the season.
Schunk’s homer came in the top of the seventh inning, as he stayed behind an 82 MPH slider and pulled it over the left centerfield wall for a two-run shot. With the homer, Schunk moves to a tie
for sixth in terms of the most home runs across the minor leagues with four total thus far.
While Schunk’s power will get most of the headlines, Jim Jarvis continues his scalding start to his 2026 campaign, as the shortstop went 3-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored to go along with a walk. With Wednesday’s performance, Jarvis boosted his season OPS to 1.057 to go along with a .394 average.
Additionally, Jarvis also extended his hitting streak to nine games with his three-hit performance on Wednesday, while the three hits also put him in a tight with the Dodgers’ Ryan Fitzgerald for the most hits in MiLB with a minimum of 50 at-bats — at least that is where his numbers stood at the conclusion of Gwinnett’s game Wednesday afternoon.
On the mound, 24-year-old Anthony Molina made his first start of the season and performed fairly well as he struck out three and held Memphis scoreless across 4.1 innings of work.
On another pitching note, James Karinchak ran into a bit of trouble — although not entirely his fault — as he attempted to close out the game’s final two frames. Karinchak gave up a two-out homer in the bottom of the eighth, but retired the next batter to set Gwinnett up nicely entering the final inning.
However, after sandwiching a double between a pair of strikeouts, Karinchak gave up a single to put runners on the corners before Jarvis committed a fielding error, allowing the third Memphis run to score. Anderson Pillar was called on to get the final out and did so in five pitches to cap off the 10-3 victory.
(6-5) Columbus Clingstones 7, (6-5) Biloxi Shuckers 3
- Luke Waddell, SS: 3-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
- Adam Zebrowski, C: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
- Patrick Clohisy, LF: 3-4, RBI
- Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. RF: 1-4, HR, RBI, R
- Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 1-4, HR, RBI, R
- Owen Murphy, SP: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, 4 K
While he didn’t exactly have his best stuff on Wednesday, Owen Murphy was solid enough to keep Columbus in the game while his offense shouldered most of the load in the Clingstones’ 7-3 win to move them a game above .500.
Murphy’s command wasn’t great, as the righty struggled, especially with his secondary offerings, which led to him issuing three walks on the day. His lone blemish on his line came courtesy of a solo homer off the bat of Jesus Made — who is a consensus top-5 prospect in the sport.
Regardless of his shortcomings, Murphy was able to work around the walks for the most part and struck out four batters while getting nine swings and misses in his outing as well.
Following his strong season debut in which he struck out 10 batters in 5.2 innings of work, Murphy’s overall work has been a little shaky. However, he has shown he still knows how to execute his pitches later in the count and keep hitters off-balanced, so the end results should start shaking out in his favor in the near future.
A major downside on the pitching front was Jhancarlos Lara, who had an abysmal day on the mound for Columbis.
Lara only made it through one-third of an inning before being pulled, and across 21 pitches, only three of them were called for strikes. Lara’s final line consisted of four walks, two earned runs and one strikeout.
It’s an incredibly discouraging sign from Lara, who was someone thought to be in the running to solidify himself as a solid bullpen piece in Atlanta. Instead, he has given up at least one run in three of his four outings, while walking a staggering nine batters in just four innings of work.
As mentioned above, thankfully the Columbus offense showed up and showed out as Clingstone hitters plated seven runs on four homers and a pair of doubles in the process.
Luke Wadell had arguably the biggest day at the plate for the Clingstones as he went 3-4 with a homer — which he pulled a 3-1 pitch over the right field wall — and scored two runs in the process.
Waddell has been on absolute fire to begin the season, as he carries an OPS of .959 across triple-A Gwinnett and double-A Columbus, in addition to a pair of homers and four stolen bases to his credit as well.
In addition to Waddell’s homer, Lizandro Espinoza, Adam Zebrowski and Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. each showed off their power as they all went yard on Wednesday as well.
On a smaller note, Ambioris Tavarez showed solid plate discipline on Wednesday, as the second baseman went 0-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored as well.
(4-7) Rome Emperors 5, (7-3) Jersey Shore Blueclaws 7
- Owen Carey, LF: 2-4, RBI, R, BB
- Eric Hartman, CF: 2-5, R, SB
- Jake Steels, RF: 1-4, 3B, 3 RBI
- Cedric De Grandpre, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 7 K
Despite plating five runs and getting a stellar start on the mound from Cedric De Grandpre, Rome came up short in the day game against Jersey Shore.
Across six innings of work, De Grandpre scattered six hits while allowing two runs, but issued just one walk and struck out seven in the start. It’s a nice bounceback game for Grandpre, who struggled in his second start of the season last week in which he allowed four earned runs in just 1.2 innings.
After a rocky first three innings where he gave up four hits — two for extra bases — and two runs, Grandpre settled in quite nicely, as he sat down the opposing lineup in order to end the fourth, fifth and sixth frames. What is also impressive is that Grandpre also led all pitchers in the game in swings and misses, registering 13 on the day.
On the offensive side of the all, Rome was able to plate five runs on the day despite registering just one extra-base hit — a bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the eighth inning off the bat of Jake Steels.
Isaiah Drake continued his descent back to earth after his strong start to the season as he went 0-4 with a walk and a strikeout on Wednesday to snap a four-game hitting streak for the outfielder.
On the flip side, Owen Carey and Eric Hartman — who both tallied two hits on the day — continue to impress as both continue to carry an OPS of .825 and above thus far.
Carey is currently slashing .294/.385/.441, while Hartman is trending in a higher direction with a slash line of .238/.304/.595 to begin the year.
(6-5) Augusta GreenJackets 6, (2-9) Fayetteville Woodpeckers 5
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, R
- Alex Lodise, SS: 2-4, 2B, R
- Derek Vartanian, SP: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, BB, 8 K
Despite starter Derek Vartanian allowing five runs on eight hits on the day, Augusta managed to scratch out a win over Fayetteville to move to one game above .500 on the young season.
Making his second start of the year, Vartanian tossed 5.1 innings on Wednesday and while he got hit around quite a bit, he did manage to strike out eight batters in the process.
Thankfully, Vartanian’s offense bailed him out as the GreenJackets scored five runs on nine hits on the night.
Alex Lodise had a solid night at the plate as he laced a double and scored a run in his 2-4 night, raising his season OPS to .792 while batting .286 thus far.
However, none of the hits were as big as Luis Guanipa’s sixth inning three-run moonshot, which he launched on a first pitch fastball up in the zone to give Augusta the lead.
Not only is it Guanipa’s first homer of the season, but it also bumps his OPS up to an encouraging .822 to go along with his batting average of .325. It’s a good sign to see Guanipa being able to hit for power early on while also getting on base at a consistent clip. Hopefully it’s a sign of better things to come from the young outfielder.
