With eight games taking place down on the farm, there was no shortage of action. In five of the eight games, Atlanta’s minor league teams scored five or more runs, so there was plenty of offense to go around. Let’s dive in.
(37-34) Gwinnett Stripers 9, (37-33) Louisville Bats 8 (GAME ONE)
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-3, 2B, RBI, R
- Aaron Schunk, 1B: 3-3, 3 R
- Jose Azocar, PH: 1-1, 3 RBI, R
- Garrett Baumann, SP: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, BB, 3 K
In what was easily the most entertaining game of the day on Friday, Gwinnett won game one of their doubleheader against Louisville in extra innings.
Before we get to the theatrics, let’s figure out how we got to that point.
Garrett Baumann got the start in game one and took
a step backwards after a string of solid outings at the triple-A level. In 3.2 innings of work, Baumann surrendered six runs on eight hits. The upside is that he only issued one free pass in the short outing.
It’s an unfortunate start following his first triple-A start on June 11 in which he spun five innings of one-run ball while striking out five. Hopefully it’s just a minor setback for Baumann as he continues to adapt to the competition at the level.
Trailing 6-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Aaron Schunk — who went 3-3 on the day — singled before advancing to second on a Ben Gamel walk to put a runner in scoring position. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners over before a Jim Jarvis sacrifice fly brought Schunk home and cut the deficit to 6-3. In the next at-bat, DaShawn Kiersey Jr. singled on a sharply hit ground ball to the second baseman to plate Gamel and make it a 6-4 game.
Heading into the bottom of the seventh down by two runs, Cal Conley would play the initial hero in this one.
Similar to the fifth inning, Schunk singled and Gamel walked to lead things off before Conley tripled both runners home to tie the game. While there were no outs in the inning with the winning run just 90 feet away, the Stripers failed to bring Conley home, sending the game into extras.
With Joel Payamps on the mound, Louisville tagged the righty for a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to take the lead once again.
However, Payamps offense luckily bailed him out with some late inning sparks.
With Brett Wisely starting on second base, Brewer Hicklen led off the frame with a walk and three batters later, Schunk worked a two-out walk to put the winning run at first base.
What proceeded could best be described as a gift by Gwinnett and a calamity for Louisville.
Jose Azocar — who pinch-ran for Gamel in the seventh — popped up to shallow right center field, during which the second baseman made a sliding attempt to catch the pop up. However, the ball ricocheted off his glove and got past the centerfielder, allowing Wisely, Hicklen and Schunk to score and give Gwinnett the walkoff 9-8 win to start their day.
(37-35) Gwinnett Stripers 0, (38-33) Louisville Bats 2 (GAME TWO)
- Adam Zebrowski, C: 1-2, 2B
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-3
- Owen Murphy, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K
Hoping to build off the high of walking off game one, Gwinnett ultimately fell short after getting shutout in game two.
Despite a solid outing from Owen Murphy in which he tossed six innings, giving up two runs and striking out six, the Stripers offense must have used all of its magic in game one as Gwinnett totaled just five hits in the second game.
While there wasn’t much to write home about in the second contest, Murphy put up his second consecutive solid performance in which he has tossed at least six innings while allowing two or fewer runs. He has also struck out 16 across 12 innings, while only walking two batters.
It’s a small sample size, sure. But it’s still encouraging to see from one of the top arms in the system as he continues to try and adjust to triple-A.
(29-33) Columbus Clingstones 3, (33-30) Biloxi Shuckers 14 (GAME ONE)
- David McCabe, 1B: 2-2, 2B
- Patrick Clohisy, CF: 2-4, RBI
- Cedric De Grandpre, SP: 1.1 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Columbus didn’t have much of a fighting chance in this one as the Shuckers tagged the Clingstones pitching staff for eight runs in the second inning.
Cedric De Grandpre got the start and, simply put, had as bad of an outing as you’ll see. Across just 1.1 innings of work, Biloxi tallied seven runs on five hits while working a pair of walks in less than two frames. It was an abysmal start for De Grandpre, who was making his first start of the season at the double-A level.
Trying to battle back from an 8-1 deficit, the Clingstones really never had a chance to catch up offensively, as they were limited to just three runs compared to Biloxi’s 14.
David McCabe had the lone extra base hit on the night, a double, while Patrick Clohisy registered the only RBI for Columbus.
All in all, this was probably a game most of the Clingstones would rather forget.
(29-33) Columbus Clingstones 1, (33-30) Biloxi Shuckers 1 (GAME TWO/SUSPENDED)
- Patrick Clohisy, CF: 1-2, R
- Will Verdung, 1B: 0-0, sac fly
- Brett Sears, SP: 2 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 K
On an initial positive note, Columbus had a chance to redeem themselves in game two. However, Mother Nature got in the way and forced this one to be suspended in the third inning tied at 1-1.
Prior to the game being called due to the weather, Patrick Clohisy registered the only hit, while Will Verdung drove in the lone run for the Clingstones on a sacrifice fly.
Friday’s game two will be completed on Saturday prior to the regularly scheduled game.
(34-31) Rome Emperors 5, (30-35) Hudson Valley Renegades 4
- Tate Southisene, SS: 3-5, 2B, R
- Dixon Williams, DH: 2-4, 2 2B, RBI
- John Gil, 2B: 2-3, 2 R, 2 BB
- Eric Hartman, CF: 2-5
- Briggs McKenzie, SP: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 4 K
Much like their triple-A counterparts, Rome came away with a walkoff victory on Friday as well.
The Emperors had to battle out of an early 2-0 hole in this one as the Renegades tagged starter Briggs McKenzie for a pair of runs in the first inning, and two more later on in the third frame to extend their lead to 4-0.
While the baseline stats might not have been there for McKenzie, his stuff looked as excellent as ever — culminated with an excellent breaking ball to get an inning-ending strikeout in the bottom of the first inning.
Rome managed to cut the deficit to 4-3, but failed to produce any meaningful offense until their final trip to the plate.
Following a Collin Burgess strikeout to begin the inning, Tate Southisene and John Gil laced back-to-back singles to put the tying run in scoring position. Southisene proceeded to score on a wild pitch to knot things up before Owen Carey called game.
With the bases-loaded and one out on a 1-1 count, Carey took a fastball up in the zone and lined it into right field to plate Gil and give the Emperors the victory.
(36-31) Augusta GreenJackets 16, (31-36) Hub City Howlers 3
- Alex Lodise, SS: 3-5, 2 HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB
- Junior Garcia, RF: 3-3, HR, 2B, 7 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 4-6, RBI, 3 R
- Tanner Smith, 3-4, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R
- Landon Beidelschies, SP: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
It was an all-around great day for Augusta on Friday as the GreenJackets got excellent pitching on the mound and a banner day at the plate en route to a 16-3 victory.
Before we get into the offensive performances, let’s talk about the pitching staff for Augusta.
Landon Beidelschies got the start and had one of his better performances this season. While it was only across four innings, the lefty allowed two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out three. The main thing for Beidelschies, however, is that he kept his offense in the game long enough for the GreenJackets to break out.
Reliever Adiel Melendez got the win after tossing three scoreless innings and allowing just one hit and striking out one in the process. Melendez has sneakily been excellent as of late, as the undrafted lefty out of the University of Montevallo has lowered his ERA to 2.45 across 21.1 innings to go along with 22 strikeouts. He’s a guy to keep an eye on to get the bump up to Rome in the near future given his age and recent success.
Fellow relievers Kade Woods (0.2 innings, one earned run) and Daniel Brooks (1.1 innings, three strikeouts) managed to keep Hub City at bay following the performances from Beidelschies and Melendez.
Back to the action at the plate, Augusta tallied 16 runs on 16 hits in what was one of the better offensive performances of the year.
To give you an idea of how good the bats were, the GreenJackets scored at least one run in every inning except for the fifth.
The bulk of the offense came courtesy of four guys — Alex Lodise, Luis Guanipa, Tanner Smith and the big man, Junior Garcia who had a career night.
Lodise homered twice and doubled while driving in three, and Smith registered three hits including a homer to go along with his three RBI. Luis Guanipa produced a lot for the offense as well, tallying four hits and crossing the plate three times on Friday night.
The biggest night belongs to Garcia who tallied not one, not two, not three — you get the idea — but seven total RBI on the night, thanks in part to a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to left center field to give Augusta an 11-2 lead at the time.
(11-24) FCL Braves 8, (21-14) FCL Rays 19
- Diego Tornes, CF: 2-5, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI, R
- Manuel Campos, SS: 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
- Mario Baez, 3B: 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
- Wuilinyer Tovar, SP: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 5 BB
A loss for the FCL Braves resulted in one of the more unique box score you’ll ever see.
Despite the Braves outhitting the Rays 10-8, the Rays more than doubled the Braves’ score while walking a staggering 18 times over the course of nine innings.
The Braves got the offensive party started in the top of the first as Diego Tornes tripled in the first at-bat of the game. While Tornes was eventually gunned down trying to steal home, Manuel Campos later stole second and third base before scampering home on an errant throw to third on his steal attempt to make it a 1-0 game.
From there, things went back and forth until the seventh inning where the Rays tallied six runs, followed by four more runs in the eighth.
On the day, Tornes had a solid outing as he also laced a double and drove in a pair of runs and also scored a run. Campos went 3-4 with a double and two RBI as well, while third baseman Mario Baez doubled and scored a pair of runs for the Braves.
(2-12) DSL Braves 13, (4-10) DSL Red Sox Blue 15
- Sherrintley Da Costa Gomez, LF: 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
- Jose Nelo, C: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
- Jorwin Pulido, DH: 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
- Starlyn De La Cruz, CF: 2-5, 2 R
- Jesus Cova, SP: 1 IP, H, 3 ER, 2 BB, K
There must have been something in the water on Friday as yet another minor league affiliate’s offense broke out in huge fashion.
Every member of the DSL Braves lineup registered at least one hit on Friday, while all but two tallied at least one RBI to their credit as well in what was a massive offensive showcase for both squads in this one.
While the Braves came up short by a 15-13 final, there were plenty of individual performances to write home about.
Sherrintley Da Costa Gomez and Jose Nelo each launched solo homers on the day to pace the offense, while Jorwin Pulido registered three hits including a double and two RBI to his credit as well.
Da Costa Gomez’ arrow continues to point upward, as he is carrying a .351 average along with an OPS of 1.192 — both of which lead the team.
Jose Manon also drove in two of the team’s 13 total runs, while Starlyn De La Cruz got a pair of knocks and scored twice himself. Meanwhile his plate discipline has also been sharp, as he has eight walks to 11 strikeouts in 33 at-bats thus far.
As most of these types of games are, the pitching left a lot to be desired. Jesus Cova got the start and lasted just one frame, giving up three runs on one hit and a pair of walks in the process.
It’s been a really rough go of it thus far for the DSL squad as they’ve only won two of their first 14 games this season. However, seeing an outing like this from the offense suggests perhaps things may be about to change in their favor moving forward.
