With five games on the slate, it was a jam-packed day down on the farm. So, without further ado, let’s dive into Wednesday’s action.
(29-24) Gwinnett Stripers 5, (31-22) Nashville Sounds 3
- Jose Azocar, CF: 1-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB
- Brett Wisely, 2B: 1-4, RBI, R, BB
- Owen Murphy, SP: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 8 K
It took five outings but Owen Murphy put up his strongest triple-A start yet on Wednesday in Gwinnett’s win over Nashville.
Across 6.2 innings, Murphy limited the Sounds to two runs on three hits and one walk while the former first rounder struck out eight in the process.
It’s an encouraging sign for Murphy as he has put up two consecutive outings of six innings
with two or less runs allowed while striking out seven or more. It seems as though the righty is finally settling in at the highest level in the minor leagues, although we need a much larger sample size to see if that is truly the case.
With Wednesday’s performance, Murphy lowered his season ERA to 4.73 across 26.2 innings pitched at the triple-A level.
Back to Wednesday’s action, the Stripers jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to an RBI-single off the bat of Brewer Hicklen to give Gwinnett the early 1-0 lead. Aaron Schunk later singled home Brett Wisely to make it 2-0 before Jose Azocar grounded into a forceout which scored Hicklen to extend the lead to 3-0.
Gwinnett tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth thanks to a Wisely single and a balk that scored Jair Camargo to extend the lead to 5-0 on the night.
Nashville plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh off Murphy to make it a 5-2 game before plating one run in the home half of the ninth to make it a two-run game. However, Ian Hamilton managed to slam the door and seal the victory for the Stripers in this one.
(22-23) Columbus Clingstones 2, (22-22) Biloxi Shuckers 1 (GAME ONE)
- Patrick Clohisy, CF: 1-3, HR, RBI, R
- Jordan Groshans, 3B: 2-3, RBI, R
- Julio Robaina, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, BB, 5 K
Despite managing just four hits in the first game of their doubleheader on Wednesday, the Clingstones were able to come away with a narrow 2-1 win over the Shuckers to get within one game of .500 on the season.
Julio Robaina made his third start of the season for Columbus and was once again spectacular as the lefty tossed five innings of scoreless ball. Robaina limited Biloxi to five hits and one walk in the process while also striking out five on the night.
While it was only his third start, Robaina lowered his ERA to 1.84 with Friday’s outing, giving him solid stats through his first few appearances.
As we mentioned, offense was difficult to come by in game one as the Clingstones registered just four hits.
However, the biggest blow came courtesy of Patrick Clohisy who launched a solo homer over the right field wall in the bottom of the third to give Columbus the early 1-0 lead from which the Clingstones never looked back.
Leading 2-0, Biloxi managed to put together a short rally in the top of the ninth inning to score one run and cut their deficit in half. Tyler LaPorte managed to sit the Shuckers’ offense down before it got out of hand to seal off the game one victory.
(23-23) Columbus Clingstones 4, (22-23) Biloxi Shuckers 1 (GAME TWO)
- Ambioris Tavarez, 2B: 1-1, 2 RBI, 2 BB
- Drew Compton, 1B: 2-2, R, BB
- Jordan Groshans, 3B: 1-3, RBI, R
- Shay Schanaman, SP: 4.2 IP, H, ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Columbus got back to .500 on the season with a Wednesday sweep of their doubleheader against Biloxi.
Shay Schanaman made his fourth start of the year as an opener for Wednesday’s doubleheader and managed to keep the Shuckers at bay in game two.
In 4.2 innings of work, the righty scattered just one hit while allowing two walks to keep the Clingstones in game two. Schanaman also struck out six batters in his 4.2 innings of work as well.
Biloxi jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, but it wouldn’t take long for Columbus to permanently retake the lead.
In the home half of the first, Jordan Groshans plated Luke Waddell via single to tie the game at 1-1 before David McCabe brought Ambioris Tavrez home on a bases-loaded walk to make it a 2-1 game. Ethan Workinger followed that up with another bases-loaded walk to score Groshans to extend Columbus’ lead to 3-1 in this one.
The final offensive blow came in the bottom of the fifth inning as Tavarez doubled home Drew Compton in the fifth inning to extend the Columbus lead to 4-1, which would hold as the final.
( 25-22) Rome Emperors 0, (28-19) Winston-Salem Dash 3
- Isaiah Drake, LF: 3-4
- Eric Hartman, CF: 1-3, BB
- John Gil, SS: 1-4
- Cody Miller, 2B: 0-2, 2 BB
- Cam Caminiti, SP: 2 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, K
Wednesday wasn’t anything to write home about as Rome was shutout by Winston-Salem.
Cam Caminiti didn’t have his best stuff as the lefty only scraped by with two innings pitched and gave a run on two hits and three walks in the process.
Wednesday marked the shortest outing of the season for Caminiti, who has allowed one or more runs in each of his previous four outings while walking 12 in his previous 16.1 innings. Hopefully he can get back on track, but to say it’s been a bit of an underwhelming start to the season for Caminiti is an understatement.
Back to Wednesday’s action, Rome managed to match Winston-Salem hit for hit (both teams tallied seven hits apiece), but the Emperors failed to have one runner cross the plate as they were held scoreless in this one.
Isaiah Drake had the best outing among Rome players, as he we went 3-4 with three singles in the process. Eric Hartman went 1-3 with a single and a walk to his credit as well.
(26-21) Augusta GreenJackets 6, (25-22) Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5
- Tate Southisene, 2B: 2-5, 2 2B, R
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 2-4, 2B, 2 R
- Dallas Macias, DH: 1-4, HR, 4 RBI
- Derek Vartanian, SP: 3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
To say it was “all hands on deck” for Augusta’s win on Wednesday would be an understatement as the GreenJackets got a handful of significant offensive contributions in the process — plus a tremendous defensive play to end the game.
Derek Vartanian got the start and while he wasn’t his sharpest — as he gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in three innings — the GreenJackets’ offense managed to pick up the slack.
Tate Southisene laced a pair of doubles and scored a run in the process while Luis Guanipa doubled and scored twice himself on the night. More on Guanipa in a minute.
The heavy hitter for the Augusta offense came from designated hitter Dallas Macias who took a first pitch fastball and launched it over the left centerfield wall for a three-run shot in the top of the eighth to give the GreenJackets a 5-4 lead in the process.
Up by one run, Augusta wasn’t out of the wood yet as the Cannon Ballers managed to put a runner in scoring position in the ninth inning.
Adiel Melendez came on and was excellent in relief as the lefty tossed two innings of relief, while giving up one hit and striking out three in the process to hold Kannapolis at bay.
However, a tremendous sliding catch from Guanipa in centerfield sealed the deal and handed the GreenJackets the one-run victory.
