Saturday saw a lot of action in the Atlanta Braves farm system. Michael Martinez homered for the second straight day, as his red hot start to the FCL season continues. The entire Augusta lineup had big days, as did David McCabe, Manuel Campos, and Yamvier Carrero. On the pitching side, we got to see great efforts out of Garrett Baumann, Cedric De Grandpre, Zach Royse, and Gensi Angeles, as the quartet allowed just three earned runs over 27 innings on the day.
Durham Bulls 11, Gwinnett Stripers 2
- Luke Williams, DH/P: 1-4, HR, R, RBI, .242/.303/.418
- Brett Wisely, 2B: 2-4, 2B, BB, .310/.377/.500
- Lucas Braun, SP: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 4.85 ERA
This one was ugly early,
as starter Lucas Braun failed to make it out of the first inning. Braun was able to record just two outs before allowing four runs on four hits and a walk. Rolddy Munoz pitched a scoreless next inning and a third, before giving way to Elieser Hernandez. Hernandez came in and ate five innings, though allowed five runs – including a pair of homers. After a scoreless Joel Payamps inning, they put in position player Luke Williams to pitch the ninth, and he went on to allow the final two runs to score.
Prior to coming in to pitch, Williams spent the game at DH, where he blasted a 105.7 MPH home run. He and Brett Wisely were about the only two players in the Stripers lineup who were productive on Saturday, as Wisely recorded a single, double, and walk in five trips to the dish. Brewer Hicklen and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. singles accounted for the remainder of the Stripers hits. Keirsey also drew a walk to reach base twice, and Jim Jarvis had two walks in the loss.
Columbus Clingstones 6, Knoxville Smokies 2
- David McCabe, 1B: 2-4, HR, 2B, 1 R, 3 RBI, .272/.361/.621
- Patrick Clohisy, LF: 2-3, BB, R, SB, .267/.339/.416
- Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, SB, .295/.415/.562
- Garrett Baumann, SP: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 5.92 ERA
This season has been a bit of a struggle for Garrett Baumann in his first experience in the upper minors, but on Saturday he put together his best start of the season. Baumann set new season high marks for going both seven innings and striking out 11. In total he allowed six hits and a walk, and the two runs he gave up were both unearned, while he picked up 13 whiffs. Luis Vargas and Tyler LaPorte were each able to toss a scoreless frame to close this one out, and each one struck out a pair of batters to give Columbus pitchers 15 strikeouts on the day.
The top part of the order won this game for the Clingstones, as each of the first three hitters in the lineup had a multi-hit day. David McCabe’s two hits went for his 11th homer and third double of the season, and he picked up three runs batted in. Patrick Clohisy went two for three with a walk, stolen base, and run scored, while Lizandro Espinoza was two for three with a steal, run batted in, and two runs scored. In total seven members of the lineup had base hits, and eight of the nine reached base safely in the win.
Rome Emperors 1, Brooklyn Cyclones 0
- Dixon Williams, 2B: 1-3, 2B, .297/.426/.541
- John Gil, DH: 0-3, BB, R, SB, .274/.376/.452
- Cedric De Grandpre, SP: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K, 5.13 ERA
Cedric De Grandpre’s season of ups and downs continued on Saturday night with a very much up start. Cedric went seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits and no walks and striking out 10 with 14 whiffs. This gives him three excellent outings with three poor outings, as well as two mediocre outings on the season. Drew Christo came on to pitch the final two innings and struck out three to preserve the combined shutout. Combined Cedric and Christo allowed three hits and no walks with 13 strikeouts.
As good as the pitching for Rome was, the offense was equally non-existent. The Emperors managed a run on just two hits and three walks. A Dixon Williams double and Logan Braunschweig single accounted for the hits, while John Gil, Eric Hartman, and Mac Guscette were able to draw the walks. Gil scored the lone run, and had a stolen base – as did Hartman and Braunschweig.
Augusta GreenJackets 11, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 1-4, BB, HBP, R, RBI, .305/.352/.511
- Nick Montgomery, C: 2-5, 2B, BB, 2 R, RBI, .213/.341/.387
- Cooper McMurray, 1B: 2-3, HR, 2 BB, R, 4 RBI, .188/.339/.307
- Zach Royse, SP: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 4.21 ERA
Zach Royse turned in a dominant start in this one, going a career best eight innings and allowing just one run on four hits and no walks. Royse picked up eight strikeouts, to go with 15 whiffs, and needed just 90 pitches to get through eight innings. Styven Paez pitched a scoreless ninth inning to finish this one off, and dropped his ERA to 0.71 on the season.
The Augusta offense got going in the top of the first, when they put up four runs, and never looked back as they cruised to an easy win. Every member of the lineup got on base, and eight of the nine got on multiple times in the win. In fact the only guy not to factor into the storyline was Tate Southisene, who received a rare day off here. The star of the game had to be Cooper McMurray, who homered, singled, walked twice, and batted in four runs. If it wasn’t McMurray, then Dallas Macias is the next option after he went recorded two doubles, two hit by pitches, a walk, run scored, and two batted in. Nick Montgomery singled, doubled, walked, scored a run, and batted two in. Luis Guanipa singled, walked, and got hit by a pitch. Alex Lodise singled, walked, stole a base, and scored a pair of runs. Juan Mateo singled twice, walked, and stole a base. Even Dalton McIntyre had a pair of singles and a walk, while Junior Garcia drew a pair of walks.
FCL Rays 10, FCL Braves 9
- Michael Martinez, LF: 1-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, .375/.522/.781
- Manuel Campos, DH: 3-5, 3B, R, RBI, 3 SB, .200/.391/.286
- Diego Tornes, CF: 1-4, 2 RBI, .273/.273/.273
- Yamvier Carrero, SS: 3-5, R, RBI, SB, .308/.471/.308
- Gensi Angeles, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
The final score isn’t truly indicative of the game that was played. The Braves team was up 5-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, before the bullpen let things get away. Gensi Angeles threw five shutout innings, allowing just three hits and no walks as his ERA remains at 0.00 through 14.1 innings, to go with a 0.98 WHIP. Angeles also had four strikeouts with five whiffs. Edward Cedano came in for the sixth, and he was charged with six runs without recording an out. Cristobal Abreu allowed another run, but was able to limit further damage in the sixth. Daniel Brooks came in for the next two innings, and gave up two runs of his own. Melvin Hidalgo went an inning and a third, allowing a walk-off in the 10th as the inherited ghost runner came in to score.
The Michael Martinez show continued on Saturday, as he homered for the second straight day to give him four on the year, in just 11 games. Martinez’s homer went 108.1 MPH off the bat. Infielders Manuel Campos and Yamvier Carrero also helped lead the Braves offense, as each had three hits. Campos’ three hits included a triple, and he stole three bases as he scored once and batted one in, while Carrero also stole a base, scored a run, and batted one in. Diego Tornes played for the third straight day, going one for four with a single and batting in a pair of runs, though from reports he just missed his first pro homer on a 102.5 MPH flyout. Manuel Dos Passos and Juan Espinal each added two-hit games, while Johan Rodriguez had a double in the loss. Conor Essenburg was not in the lineup after he started his rehab assignment on Friday.
