The minor league season is winding to a close, but there were still some interesting performances for Atlanta’s farm affiliates on Wednesday night.
(62-78) Gwinnett Stripers 7, (77-61) Nashville Sounds 4
- Jesus Bastidas, 2B: 1-4, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, 3 BB
- David McCabe, 1B: 2-4, 2 RBI, BB
- Jose Suarez, SP: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
The Stripers actually jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first — thanks to a two-RBI single off the bat of David McCabe — before Nashville came back to tie things up and temporarily take the lead.
For the next five innings, however, the Stripers were held at bay as the offense
failed to produce anything meaningful. That changed in the top half of the seventh, as Jesus Bastidas — more on him later — worked a bases-loaded walk to bring home Jonathan Ornelas to tie the game at 3-3. In the next at-bat, Luke Waddell came through with a sacrifice fly that scored Chandler Seagle, giving Gwinnett the 4-3 lead.
The real backbreaker provided by the Gwinnett offense came in the top of the eighth, as Bastidas homered on a 1-1 pitch, sending the ball over the center field wall for a three-run shot and extending the Gwinnett lead to 7-3.
While Nashville did get one of those runs back in the home half of the ninth, reliever Enoli Paredes was able to stop the damage there, getting the save and preserving the Stripers’ win.
Starter Jose Suarez went five solid innings on the night, scattering seven hits and allowing three runs while striking out seven in his outing.
(57-74) Columbus Clingstones 6, (66-68) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 5
- Patrick Clohisy, CF: 1-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB
- Ethan Workinger, DH: 2-5, 2B, 2 R
- Ian Mejia, SP: 5.2 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
It may have taken a 9th inning comeback, but Columbus came away with a win on Wednesday, beating Pensacola by a narrow 6-5 final.
Starter Ian Mejia put up a bit of a mixed-bad of results in his outing. Across 5.2 innings of work, the 25-year-old gave up four runs on 10 hits as he was knocked around quite a bit. However, he also managed to strike out seven batters while only holding the Blue Wahoos to the four runs despite allowing double digits in hits.
At the plate, the Clingstones actually took an early lead — albeit a short-lived one. In the top of the first, Ethan Workinger doubled home Patrick Clohisy to put Columbus on the board with a 1-0 lead.
Over the next five innings, the Blue Wahoos managed to take the lead and run with it for a while, as they led Columbus by a 5-1 margin headed into the top of the sixth. Thankfully, the Clingstones’ bats finally came alive.
Clohisy got the scoring restarted for Columbus, as he launched the first pitch he saw in the at-bat over the right field wall for a solo shot. In the following frame, Geraldo Quintero scored on a throwing error and Ambioris Tavarez later doubled home Cody Milligan to bring Columbus within one run.
The tying run came in the top of the ninth inning, as John Gil singled in Tavarez before Ethan Workinger lined a scorcher back up the middle to plate Gil and give Columbus the 6-5 lead. Blane Abeyta came on in the eighth inning and was tasked with getting the final three outs of the game as well, which he did without issue, earning the win.
