(58-67) Durham Bulls 2, (62-63) Gwinnett Stripers 7
- Lizandro Espinoza, SS: 2-for-4, RBI, .333/.333/.600
- David McCabe, 1B: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, R, 2B, .375/.333/.875
- Luke Williams, LF: 2-for-3, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 HR, .227/.317/.388
- Reynaldo López, SP: 4IP 3H 0R 1BB 3K, 0.00 ERA
Box Score
The Stripers featured some strong pitching, featuring five relievers, while the offense collected seven runs on seven hits in the Stripers 7-2 victory over the Bulls.
The rehabbing Reynaldo López made his first rehab appearance and was solid, scattering three hits across four innings. He featured a fastball that sat 93-95, along with a strong curveball, and slider. His command was a bit erratic, but stayed relatively in zone. The start still left a lot to be desired for a major league pitcher,
but again it was just his first start since his latest injury. What he did do well was induce weak contact seemingly whenever someone got on base which helped him keep the pitch count in a good place. He was removed after 50 pitches with his fastball velocity sitting right at 94. Reynaldo was replaced by Duncan Davitt (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K) who pitched well, utilizing his full arsenal, getting weak swings on his breaking pitches that generated good swing and miss. Rolddy Muñoz (1IP 2H 0R 0BB 0K), got the ball in the fifth inning and continued to do what he does so well, induce weak contact because of his two-seamer, and got three ground balls in a scoreless inning. Hayden Harris (1.2IP 3H 2ER 0BB 1K) was handed the ball in the sixth and was effective outside of one pitch – a 91 MPH fastball that was left in the middle of the zone that was hit for home run. He would settle down and his command would improve after that, as he was given the start of the seventh inning as well, getting a pair of outs. Tyler Uberstine (0.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K) came in and got the final out of the eighth inning before turning the ball over to Ian Hamilton (1IP 1H 0R 0BB 0K) who worked a scoreless ninth inning, preserving the win for the Stripers.
Two of the newest call ups, David McCabe and Lizandro Espinoza continued to show they belong with the Stripers as they made big contributions to start the game off. David McCabe ripped a 104 MPH two-run double in the first to put the Stripers out in front 2-0. McCabe would be moved over on a grounder by Brett Wisely before Lizandro Espinoza singled him in to extend the Stripers lead to 3-0. The lead would stay at three until the fifth inning when Luke Williams hit his second home run in as many days, to put the Stripers up 4-0. Two innings later, he would do it again, connecting on his third home run in two days, driving in Maverick Handley and extending the lead to 6-2.
The Stripers would drive in one more run in the eighth inning on a well executed double steal that led to Brett Wisely stealing home and being the final seventh run of the night for the Stripers.
(62-58) Montgomery Biscuits 2, (57-58) Columbus Clingstones 7
- John Gil, 2B: 2-for-4, 3B, 2 SB, R, BB, .296/.378/.408
- Eric Hartman, LF: 1-for-2, HR, 2 RBI, R, 2 BB, .246/.373/.362
- Adam Żebrowski, DH: 1-for-4, HR, RBI, R, .287/.348/.610
- Archer Brookman, C: 1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB, .240/.340/.382
- Luke Sinnard, SP: 4.2IP 5H 1ER 3BB 2K, 1.93 ERA
Box Score
The Clingstones continued their recent winning ways with another win over the Biscuits thanks to some strong pitching, and better offense.
Luke Sinnard got the start for the Clingstones and was effective after being staked with a large lead in the sixth inning. However, even more importantly for Luke, he was able to get his pitch count up to 70 pitches as he continues his come back from a pair of abdominal injuries that knocked him out for a big chunk of the year. The lone run he surrendered came in his final inning when a Caden Bodine single drove in Mac Horvath who had walked and stolen second right before. Two hitters later Luke would hit his pitch limit and was replaced by Anderson Pillar (3.1IP 2H 1ER 1BB 4K) who would get the final out of the inning, while also providing the Clingstones with solid length as he would pitch across four innings. The result of his effectiveness allowed the Clingstones to utilize just one more pitcher, Owen Hackman (1IP 1H 0R 0BB 1K), who worked a scoreless inning and preserved the win for Columbus.
Offensively, Columbus did all of their damage in the decisive first inning, as they scored all 7 runs. The game started off a bang with John Gil collecting a lead off triple and Eric Hartman connecting on his second home run in as many days – immediately giving Columbus the 2-0 lead.
Two batters later, with two out, the real fun started as Adam Zebrowski connected on his fifth home run of the week to extend the lead to 3-0.
Luke Waddell and Will Verdung would follow him up with a pair of singles before Archer Brookman connected on the third home run of the inning, a 3-run shot, that would extend the lead to 6-0. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. would then single, steal second, take third on a passed ball, and then eventually score on a double steal with John Gil stealing second, and Kevin stealing home and getting that seventh run of the inning.
The Clingstones would then be held in check the rest of the game. The only significant threats came in the sixth and seventh innings when they would have a runner get on second, but were unable to drive them in. That said, the offense did more than enough in the first while pitching remained strong in another win.
(55-65) Hub City Spartanburgers 3, (57-60) Rome Emperors 1
- Carter Beck, CF: 1-for-3, BB, 2 SB, .238/.360/.333
- Cody Miller, 2B: 1-for-4, .193/.311/.321
- Luis Guanipa, LF: 0-for-3, RBI, .216/.222/.375
- Daniel Brooks, SP: 4.1IP 1H 0R 1BB 6K, 0.00 ERA
Box Score
The Emperors offense was held in check, collecting just three hits while striking out 13 times in their loss to the Spartanburgers that featured a dominant start by Daniel Brooks.
Daniel Brooks made his High-A debut and was absolutely dominant as he commanded both his fastball and slider extremely well – allowing just one hit across his work. He kept his fastball low in the zone for a majority of at bats, before continually climbing the ladder and generating whiffs from it. Daniel also did a great job of keeping his slider away from any kind of hard contact, again featuring it on the edges and bottom of the zone. It was a masterful appearance for Daniel, who has looked extremely strong since his signing. It’s important to also remember that Daniel was an UDFA from this past draft, so his ascension has been a bit of a surprise in that you don’t see this level of production typically from one, but him going undrafted was a bit of a surprise given his ability. Daniel has looked so good that it would not be surprising if the Braves moved him up to Columbus at some point this season to get him facing high quality batters because he has made everyone he’s faced looked silly so far. Because Daniel started as a reliever and is slowly being stretched out – he was removed after 60 pitches. He was replaced by Jacob Kroeger (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 1K) who finished out the final inning that Daniel appeared in, and kept it scoreless. The following inning he was replaced by Blayne Enlow (2IP 1H 0R 0BB 0K) who was fantastic in his two innings of work – continuing to keep the game scoreless and giving the Emperors a chance. Unfortunately for Rome, after Blayne came Logan Samuels (1IP 3H 3ER 0BB 1K) who surrendered two runs before even recording an out. He would eventually give up a third run, this one coming on a double steal of second and home, to give Hub City the 3-0 lead in the eighth inning. Jarret Whorff (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 1K) worked a scoreless ninth.
Offensively, it was a struggle for the Emperors who recorded just three hits – all singles. As a team they would go just 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, stranding all five. There unfortunately is not much to report about the offense as it was mainly stagnant and overpowered as they also struck out a total of 13 times. The only run scored in the eighth inning came from Colby Jones who walked, stole second and third, and came in to score on a Luis Guanipa sacrifice fly. Other than that, they were unable to get the big hit, or even really get on base. On a positive note, Carter Beck, Colby Jones, and Mac Guscette all got on base twice.
(64-55) Augusta GreenJackets 3, (59-60) Columbia FireFlies 1
- Parker Brosius, RF: 1-for-4, 2B, .286/.390/.469
- Caleb Klein, CF: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, .318/.380/.318
- Jacob Jarrell, C: 0-for-2, 2 BB, .183/.270/.242
- Manuel Campos, SS: 1-for-4, R, .218/.246/.327
- Juan Mateo, 1-for-3, R, .253/.334/.352
- Brody Fowler, SP: 6IP 7H 1ER 1BB 2K, 5.91 ERA
Box Score
The GreenJackets cashed in on excellent starting pitching, as well as an overall great day for the pitching staff, and timely hitting to secure win #64 on the season.
Brody Fowler was the starting pitcher for Augusta and pitched pretty well, generating a lot of weak contact in the air and getting lots of easy outs. While his stuff didn’t jump out at you this last game, he was missing just enough bats and pitching well enough at, or near, the bottom of the zone. Brody’s splitter was his best pitch as he featured it at the bottom of he zone consistently and had decent movement on it. All that said, he was still able to generate outs and had his best start of his career as he navigated across six innings. He was replaced by Logan Forsythe (2IP 0H 0R 2BB 3K) who was able to work around some self-inflicted issues, not allowing either one of his walks to score. Lewis Sifontes (1IP 1H 0R 0BB 1K) worked the finally inning, picking up his seventh save of the season, with some strong work from his slider that he used well.
The GreenJackets offense did just enough to take advantage of that strong pitching, scoring three on six hits. They came out firing in the first, sending seven to the plate with Caleb Klein coming in big with a two run single – driving in Parker Brosius and Juan Mateo.
They scored their third, and final, run of the game in the sixth inning with Manuel Campos singling, stealing second and third, and coming in on a Caden Meritt RBI single.
That was all that the offense could muster, but thankfully it was more than enough. The GreenJackets offense collected just three hits, but did walk six times in the win.
