Saturday saw the teams in the Atlanta Braves organization split six games down the middle. Cade Kuehler threw his third straight great game, while Isaiah Drake, John Gil, and Jim Jarvis all had notable days at the plate. We also got to get the full Jhancarlos Lara experience, where he got himself into trouble, but also really showed his swing and miss stuff.
Gwinnett Stripers 5, Charlotte Knights 1
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 2-3, 2 2B, BB, R, .301/.407/.428
- Brewer Hicklen, CF: 2-4, 2B, R, RBI, .348/.430/.570
- Anthony Molina, SP: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 4.50 ERA
- Joel Payamps, RP: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 4.05 ERA
Anthony Molina got the start and threw five excellent innings on Saturday. Molina allowed just one hit and three walks in the five scoreless
innings, striking out five and whiffing nine. Rolddy Munoz was the next pitcher used and allowed a run over an inning and two thirds. Joel Payamps got the next inning and a third, and recorded a strikeout for each of the four outs he picked up. A scoreless Ian Hamilton inning finished this one off for the Stripers pitching staff.
Jim Jarvis and Brewer Hicklen once again carried the Gwinnett offense. Jarvis doubled twice in three at bats, walked, and scored a run, while Hicklen singled, doubled, scored a run, and batted one in. New catcher Maverick Handley added a pair of hits in his Braves system debut, while Brett Wisely, Rowdy Tellez, and Aaron Schunk all had a hit, while Tellez and Wisely each drew a walk to join Jarvis, Hicklen, and Handley in reaching base multiple times.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos 4, Columbus Clingstones 0
- Patrick Clohisy, CF: 1-4, 2B, .264/.338/.440
- Ethan Workinger, LF: 1-3, 2B, BB, .204/.286/.357
- Lucas Braun, SP: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 7.20 ERA
- Jhancarlos Lara, RP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 7.43 ERA
Back in Double-A Lucas Braun got his first start since the demotion, and just his second start here this year. Unfortunately he gave up a first inning run and ended up allowing three more in his five and a third innings. Braun allowed seven hits and a walk as he struck out three, though did have 11 whiffs. Samuel Strickland pitched a scoreless inning and two thirds in relief of Braun. Jhancarlos Lara came in for the eighth and final inning and got into some trouble as he allowed a leadoff single, strikeout, wild pitch, walk, strikeout, double steal, and a third strikeout. Lara used 20 pitches to get through the inning, but six have six whiffs.
Karson Milbrandt dominated the Columbus lineup with six shutout innings that included 12 strikeouts and 24 whiffs. Overall the Clingstones managed just four hits and three walks. Ethan Workinger was the most productive, doubling and walking, while Patrick Clohisy also added a double. The other two hits were singles by Drew Compton and Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. David McCabe was the only other player to reach base, as he walked twice in the loss.
Rome Emperors 7, Hub City Spartanburgers 4
- John Gil, SS: 2-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, .275/.383/.451
- Isaiah Drake, LF: 1-4, RBI, 2 R, .274/.354/.452
- Cedric De Grandpre, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 5.03 ERA
Game 1 saw Cedric De Grandpre go six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk. Cedric struck out seven and had 15 whiffs as he needed just 88 pitches to get this quality start. Those numbers may have looked better if not for a mistake in the third inning, when he allowed a two out, three-run homer. Jacob Kroeger came in to get the final three outs and picked up the save.
John Gil had a big part in this win, as he was two for four with a homer, two runs scored, and three batted in, running his OPS up to .834 on the season. Isaiah Drake went one for four, scored twice, and batted in a run. Eric Hartman was hitless in three at bats, but walked and scored a run, while both Dixon Williams and Cody Miller had hits and batted in a run, with Williams having a double and Miller picking up a pair of RBI.
Rome Emperors 4, Hub City Spartanburgers 0
- Isaiah Drake, LF: 2-4, R, .279/.358/.453
- Cody Miller, 3B: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, .197/.293/.331
- Cade Kuehler, SP: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 4.31 ERA
The makeup of Friday’s game saw Cade Kuehler continue his recent run of strong starts. Kuehler went five and a third scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, giving him 17.1 innings of scoreless baseball across his last three starts. That lowers his ERA from 7.66 to 4.31 – over three runs off where it was earlier this month. Kuehler also struck out four with 12 whiffs. Logan Samuels got the next two outs in the sixth, before Drew Christo pitched the final inning to complete the combined shutout.
The offense wasn’t as loud in this one as the first game of the day, but Isaiah Drake continued his strong day with a two for four evening that included a run scored. Between both games he was three for eight, scored three runs, and batted one in. Cody Miller also had a double and batted in a pair, giving him two hits on the day. John Gil and Eric Hartman were each hitless in two at bats, though Hartman was hit by a pitch and Gil did walk and score a run.
Columbia Fireflies 6, Augusta GreenJackets 4
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 1-3, 3B, BB, R, .309/.354/.531
- Juan Mateo, 3B: 1-3, BB, R, .306/.364/.388
- Ethan Bagwell, SP: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 2.20 ERA
- Zach Royse, RP: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 4.79 ERA
Game two started on Friday night before a delay and the eventual push into Saturday, so Ethan Bagwell’s two scoreless innings were on Friday night. Bagwell allowed just one hit and no walks while striking out three and picking up six whiffs. Zach Royse got what amounted to a start, and went five innings, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks. Royse did strike out six and whiff 15, and he actually allowed just one run through his first four innings before getting into some trouble in his fifth inning of work and allowing four runs. Adiel Melendez followed and allowed a run in an inning and two thirds, and Kade Woods was needed to come in to get the final out of the game.
Augusta only managed one run through the first eight innings in this one, as they tacked on three runs in an attempt to rally from behind in the ninth. Luis Guanipa tripled in three at bats and also drew a walk, Juan Mateo singled and walked in three at bats. Nick Montgomery walked once, while Dalton McIntyre doubled, stole a base, and batted in a pair. Both Tate Southisene and Alex Lodise were hitless in four at bats, with Lodise picking up the platinum sombrero.
Augusta GreenJackets vs Columbia Fireflies – Game 2 – PPD
Game 2 was scheduled because Friday got rained out. Unfortunately the rain got in the way again, and this game was postponed before it got started. The game was moved to Sunday as part of a doubleheader again.
FCL Rays 9, FCL Braves 3
- Manuel Campos, SS: 1-4, 3B, R
- Conor Essenburg, RF: 1-4, BB, RBI
- Gensi Angeles, SP: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 2 K
Gensi Angeles came into this start with a 0.00 ERA and 0.98 WHIP through three starts – all against the Rays team, but he didn’t make it out of the first with that ERA still intact. Overall he allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts over 3.2 innings. Cesar Rodriguez allowed a run, while Yander Pinero allowed three as the next two pitchers, putting this game out of reach. Daniel Brooks and Juan Olmos each made scoreless appearances in the losing effort.
The standouts offensively included Manuel Campos, who had a triple and a run scored in four at bats, and Connor Essenburg, who singled, walked, and batted in a run in his five trips to the plate. Juan Elejandro and Mario Baez each had multi-hit games, with Baez picking up a double and also stealing a base. Diego Tornes went hitless in four at bats, but did get on in the ninth when he was hit by a pitch.
