It was a huge day at the plate for Alex Lodise, who seems to be coming around for Augusta following a two home run performance for them. With that effort Lodise tied for the team lead in home runs, and the top three in the lineup sit 1-2-3 on the team in home runs. Elsewhere Cam Caminiti made another start and had some struggles, giving up a lot of damage to Hub City in a loss in which the offense largely didn’t give him much help to work with.
(27-21) Gwinnett Stripers 7, (24-24) Charlotte Knights
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, 3 RBI, .301/.408/.422
- Rowdy Tellez, DH: 2-4, BB, .262/.358/.518
- Elieser Hernandez, SP: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 5.36 ERA
Adam Zebrowski hasn’t had many chances
to make a mark in Gwinnett in his career, but in his first call to Triple-A this season he made the biggest contribution to the game for the Stripers. Zebrowski launched a 412 foot opposite field home run in the second inning, giving the Stripers a 2-0 lead early in the game. He would add on later in the game with a bases loaded walk to again put the Stripers in the lead, and Gwinnett would never trail again. Jim Jarvis, a much less surprising major contributor to this game, drew a walk behind Zebrowski to force home a run as part of his three RBI day that included two hits and two walks. Jarvis sealed the game in the eighth inning with a long drive to right field, bouncing off of the wall for a two-run double that exploded the Stripers lead from 4-3 to 6-3. He scored on a Luke Williams single on the next play to cap the scoring effort for both sides. Jarvis has fallen into a nasty slump this month, but has shown some signs in the past week of digging his way out of it. Jarvis has more walks than strikeouts in his past five games and a four game hitting streak with two extra base hits, by far his best stretch of play so far this month. His first month was absolutely unsustainable statistically, but he hit the ball hard today and is actually hitting the ball harder this month than he was last month. He just has far more ground balls which has led to fewer barrels and less overall impact.
It was a scary outing for Elieser Hernandez, who got a bit fortunate to escape this game without major damage. He was giving up slews of hard hits balls, and more importantly hard-hit fly balls, and he wasn’t really missing bats to make up for it. He managed to escape the game without giving up and home runs, however, so despite allowing seven hits and two walks the Knights were mostly held at bay and only scored two earned runs against him. The Stripers bullpen was excellent, particularly Hunter Stratton who has been quite impressive for them after a rough opening outing this season. Stratton’s walk rates this season are being inflated by a couple of poor outings, but as the season goes on he appears as if he is going to settle in and be significant depth for the major league roster. Ian Hamilton is having a crazy year in terms of his ability to throw strikes, setting behind a history of not being a great control pitcher. He only has three walks in 15 innings this season (though we’re also dealing with the opposite end of the small sample spectrum to Stratton’s) and that has allowed him to be a dominant reliever for the Stripers. Hamilton’s velocity this game was a tick over his season average, but he is still below where he sat at his peak with Yankees a few years back.
Swing and Misses
Elieser Hernandez – 7
Hunter Stratton – 3
Ian Hamilton – 3
(20-21) Columbus Clingstones 4, (21-21) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3
- Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 1-4, RBI, .283/.401/.517
- David McCabe, DH: 1-4, .254/.341/.559
- Patrick Clohisy, RF: 0-3, BB, .265/.338/.436
- Julio Robaina, SP: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2.79 ERA
This game came down to the shakiest of ninth innings, and the tightly-puckered affair ended with the defense of the Clingstones coming through in a big spot. These two teams traded runs back and forth in this game, but there was little on the offensive end that stood out for either side. The Clingstones were able to get mild contributions from all parts of the lineup, starting with a Luke Waddell double that led to the first run of the game for them. Trailing again in the sixth inning the top of the batting order got involved with the game when Patrick Clohisy led the inning off with a walk and stole second base. This set the stage for a Lizandro Espinoza single, who roped one into left field to score Clohisy easy. Espinoza then went wild on the bases and stole his way around to third base, where Waddell lifted a sacrifice fly to give Columbus their first lead of the game. That lead lasted little time as the Blue Wahoos tied it up in the bottom of the sixth inning, but in the seventh the impact swing turned the game in Columbus’s favor for good. Ethan Workinger hit an absolute nuke out to left field, the defender only taking a couple of steps as the ball sailed into the bay to give Columbus a 4-3 lead.
Workinger’s impact extended beyond his contributions with the bat. It was a mediocre day on the mound for Julio Robaina, who didn’t pitch horrible but didn’t really show the stuff to get a ton of whiffs in the game. As a result he had a lot of contact, and that contact turned into a huge fifth inning home run and traffic on the bases that added up to three runs against Robaina. Yet the score could have been worse without an incredible effort by Workinger in the third inning. The leadoff hitter in the inning lifted a slow curve deep out to left field, and Workinger drifted back up to the track and the wall. Workinger went up the wall and reached over to bring back a solo home run, saving an early run that proved critical in the final score of the game. Where Robaina was okay on the mound the relievers struck fear into the Clingstones’s dugout, though they ultimately tip-toed around damage, starting with Blayne Enlow. Enlow allowed two walks in the seventh inning, but the hardest hit ball he allowed sunk right into the glove of Espinoza in center field. Enlow then picked off the runner at second base to end the inning, stopping a potential rally in its tracks before handing the ball to Blayne Abeyta. Abeyta shut down the side in order in the eighth inning, but Tyler LaPorte had no such luck in the ninth. He issued a leadoff walk and then made a throwing error, causing his own jam to start the inning. After a sac bunt and an intentional walk LaPorte found himself staring down a bases loaded situation in a one run game, but the baseball gods shone on him. A hard grounder up the middle found its way directly into Luke Waddell’s glove, and he and Ambioris Tavarez turned an easy double play to close the game and a hard-fought win for the Clingstones.
Swing and Misses
Julio Robaina – 8
Blane Abeyta – 3
Blayne Enlow – 3
(23-19) Rome Emperors 3, (23-18) Hub City Spartanburgers 4
- Isaiah Drake, LF: 0-4, BB, .274/.357/.457
- John Gil, SS: 0-2, 3 BB, .268/.380/.430
- Eric Hartman, DH: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .320/.397/.660
- Cam Caminiti, SP: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 5.19 ERA
Results this season have been mixed for Cam Caminiti, to say the least, and his last three outings serve as a disappointing set of games after a terrific opener to the month. Most of that is regression in his slider relative to last year. While he had a fair amount of success locating his fastball in this game, which shows up in his low walk total, his mechanics on his slider are all over the place. He was not able to find a consistent release point and often that led to the slider staying up in the strike zone where hitter could either get good swings or at least foul the ball off. Right handed hitter in particular seem to be getting a really good look at him and are not fooled when the slider comes. This is one of those things for Caminiti that he’s just going to have to grind through over the summer, making those little adjustments to get back on track. We’ve still seen flashes of the guy that was dominant last season and his fastball command may even be a tick better than it was in 2025, he just hasn’t found consistent location to finish at bats. I am far from the point that I would consider this stretch of play anything to fear for a guy so much younger than his competition, and Caminiti has shown the aptitude to make necessary adjustments in the past. He even seemed to settle in late in this game and get better at keeping pitches down and away from the contact zone of hitters.
Offense was tough to come by for Rome in this game. They were held scoreless through seven innings, and they didn’t seem to be making a major threat at the plate at all. The team had a total of 12 strikeouts and early in the game the only one who seemed locked in was John Gil, who was able to work three walks in the game. Their big break came in the eighth inning, when Isaiah Drake and John Gil drew back-to-back walks to bring up Eric Hartman. Hartman is exactly the guy they would want at the plate in this spot, and he delivered. He hit a missile into the right field corner for a double, a ball hit so hard that it got the wall too quickly for Gil to score from first base. That did, however, push home Isaiah Drake, and with one out the inning the Emperors were cooking with the tying run on second base. Will Verdung had a chance with the bases loaded and two outs, and he came up with a clutch single. He slapped a sharp grounder through the right side and Hartman was off on contact, using his speed to score without a throw from right field and tie the game at three runs apiece. In the bottom of the ninth inning the Spartanburgers created a threat with a runner on second base and two outs, bringing up their nine hole hitter. He came through with a hit to right field, but a terrific throw from Isaiah Drake made it a close play at the plate. Unfortunately Mac Gusette dropped the throw, and the runner scored to walk the game off.
Swing and Misses
Cam Caminiti – 11
David Rodriguez – 7
(24-18) Augusta GreenJackets 5, (18-24) Columbia Fireflies 4
- Tate Southisene, DH: 1-4, .288/.425/.484
- Alex Lodise, SS: 3-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .259/.340/.431
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 0-4, .308/.350/.522
- Landon Biedelschies, SP: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 8.49 ERA
- Luis Arestigueta, RP: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 6.20 ERA
It has been an interesting season for Alex Lodise, with plenty of rough days at the plate but others where he looks like the best player on the field. Thursday was the latter of those performances, as he went deep twice to tie Luis Guanipa for the team lead with eight home runs on the year. Neither of his home runs left any doubt in the mind when they came off of the bat. Following a Tate Southisene leadoff single Lodise got a fastball at 90 mph on the inner half of the plate and he hit it a mile down the left field line, hooking inside the foul pole and into the apartments to give Augusta a two run lead. His second home run looked much the same – an inside fastball at 93 mph that he obliterated to left field for a two-run bomb. He added another hit in the seventh inning, this one a single, giving him his first three-hit game since back on April 7th. It’s been six games since he had an extra base hit, so this broke him out of a short slump that hasn’t been particularly deep. Lately Lodise has been drawing more walks and making more contact, he just hasn’t seen the hits fall quite as often despite positive signs at the plate. Luis Guanipa saw his hitting streak snapped with an 0-4 performance, but it’s not one you can chalk up to a bad day at the plate. Guanipa hit the ball hard all four times at the plate, particularly in his last two at bats, but sprayed the right at defenders where they were easily snagged for outs. The outputs may have trailed the inputs this game, but there is zero doubt that Guanipa is still locked in a the plate and if he makes contact like this in future games he’s going to have even more big days at the plate.
Landon Beidelschies needed a day where things went right for him on the mound, and that came to fruition for him on Thursday with his best outing of the season. Beidelschies still isn’t missing very many bats, but importantly he had solid command of his slider which allowed him to keep hitters off of his fastball and force some weak contact. He did have stretches where he elevated the slider but that wasn’t a consistent problem, and against the left handed hitters in the order he had some success at getting strikeouts. His only trouble in the game came courtesy of his own errors. Beidelschies is in a weird spot on the mound. There has been a steady improvement in his execution of his fastball and if the slider follows suit that will make a massive difference in his results moving forward. Still, he hasn’t shown a breaking ball that has the quality needed to miss bats consistently and that has to be a point of emphasis for his development. It’s a bit early to say that Luis Arestigueta has turned a corner, but after finishing strong two outings ago and looking good last week he came in and had one of his best days of the season. That is by far the most consistency he has shown to date, and he was ripping his fastballs today. Possibly it’s because he knew he only needed to cover two innings after Beidelschies was able to pitch deep, but Arestigueta was up around 95 for this game and for the most part was commanding the ball well. There are occasions that his arm slot drops and drags behind him leading to bad misses, but he has been so much better at staying high and more compact and it’s made a huge difference in how often he can land fastballs and get ahead in the count. His slider was as sharp as I’ve seen it in a GreenJackets uniform, and he even dropped in a couple of changeups to keep lefties honest. His fastball lacks the carry that would get him a ton of whiffs up in the strike zone, but he still has room to add muscle and velocity to his frame to give even more projectability to a profile that has made a jump in the past 12 months. It’s hard not to be happy with how Arestigueta has looked lately and while I have my doubts as to whether the changeup will ever come along enough to get him another shot in the rotation, the fastball-slider is a big league quality combination.
Swing and Misses
Luis Arestigueta – 6
Landon Biedelschies – 5
