When guessing who we thought the most consistent pitcher for any affiliate would be this season, few, if anyone, would have guess 18th round pick Aiven Cabral would anchor the Augusta pitching staff. Even as a reliever he has been the player they can rely on for consistent innings, and so far he has recorded the win in six of his seven starts this season. Augusta had a big offensive explosion led by two hits and five stolen bases from Tate Southisene, who has 12 stolen bases in his last eight games.
(26-20) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (23-23) Charlotte Knights 5
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-5, 2B, RBI, .296/.401/.415
- Nacho Alvarez Jr., 3B: 2-4, 2B, BB, RBI, .238/.327/.329
- Rowdy Tellez, DH: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .248/.346/.504
- Austin Gomber, SP: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 9.00 ERA
- Rolddy Munoz, RP: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0.47 ERA
The Stripers trailed for most of this game, and Austin Gomber could not stop giving up home runs to the Charlotte Knights. A Jacob Gonzalez long ball off of the CoolRay Field berm opened up the scoring for the game in the second inning, and piece-by-piece the Knights kept putting up runs by putting balls over the wall. Gomber allowed the only non-home run run off of a Braden Montgomery double the next inning, then went right back to giving up nukes. The Knights went back-to-back off of Gomber in the next inning, the latter of those home runs full clearing the bullpen and sailing into the apartments. The fifth inning got started with another no doubt shot to right field, the fourth Knights home run of the game and a 5-0 lead that would seal the game in favor of Charlotte. The Gwinnett bullpen had loads more success than Gomber and split four scoreless frames between Javy Guerra and Rolddy Munoz, and Munoz had a strong day on the mound. He was able to throw tons of strikes and the Knights were having trouble with his slider, and though he only struck out one batter he got tons of weak contact and stayed ahead in the count.
The Stripers weren’t snoozing at the plate while Charlotte was going off, but without the aid of home runs they came up empty in the early innings. They didn’t have any extra base hits and had a couple of double play balls, so despite getting runners on base in every inning it took until the fifth for them to finally come up with some life. Luke Williams tripled to spark the first Gwinnett run of the game, and slowly they would start creeping back and play their way into the contest. Rowdy Tellez opened up in the sixth inning with a double and was advanced on a single from Brewer Hicklen, giving the Stripers their first inning with multiple hits and a big chance to rally with no outs. Brett Wisely chased the left fielder back to the warning track to give Tellez enough time to come and score on a sacrifice fly, but they failed the score further runs that inning. In the seventh they kept it rolling with doubles from Williams and Nacho Alvarez, and when Tellez snuck a single up the middle to score Alvarez from second base the Stripers found themselves with a huge chance to tie the game. An infield single would move Ben Gamel, pinch-running, up to second base with still only one out in the inning, but the rally fizzled out from there. Two fly outs failed to advance any runners further, but Gwinnett wasn’t out of time to score just yet. With two outs a single from Williams opened a glimmer of eighth inning hope, and when Jim Jarvis made an appearance and shot a double into the corner the chance grew bigger still. Alvarez was walked intentionally to load the bases, putting Gamel in the biggest spot of the game where he would strike out. In the ninth inning Aaron Schunk stood at second base after a Wisely hit, a force out, and a wild pitch, and with two outs Dashawn Keirsey Jr. was the final hope for Gwinnett. Keirsey was able to punch a line into shallow left field for a hit, but Jacob Gonzalez made a scoop off of the hop and fired home where Schunk was out by a mile on the throw to end the game.
Swing and Misses
Austin Gomber – 12
Javy Guerra – 6
Rolddy Munoz – 5
(19-20) Columbus Clingstones 1, (20-20) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3
- Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 1-3, BB, .297/.420/.550
- Patrick Clohisy, RF: 1-4, 2B, .266/.333/.422
- Jack Dashwood, SP: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 7.61 ERA
- Luis Vargas, RP: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 4.44 ERA
It’s tough to find a whole lot to say about this one, where the Clingstones offense took the day off and the pitching staff even with a solid collective effort didn’t really run out any particularly interesting prospects. Columbus did hold a lead early in this game, and of course it was Lizandro Espinoza getting it done at the plate and on the bases which made that possible. Espinoza drew a walk and then stole his way around to third, putting him in position where a Luke Waddell double broke the seal with two outs in the top of the first inning. That was the high point of the game. Espinoza still had a good day, adding a hit and another stolen base in the third inning, but Columbus was stifled in the series opener and only had one hit after the third inning. In total the team struck out eight times in four innings against the Blue Wahoos bullpen, sealing a quiet loss.
After a stretch of rough outings Jack Dashwood was due for a good day on the mound, and even though he didn’t have great control he was able to fill innings effectively and keep Columbus in position to win the game. Unfortunately for him the offense had different plans, but Dashwood did his job well. Luis Vargas came in to replace Dashwood with a runner on base in the fifth inning, and a stroke of good fortune got his outing off on the right food. With a runner on second Vargas gave up a liner up the middle, but Cal Conley was shifted over made a terrific leaping play to snag the liner and save a run. Conley was able to turn that into an inning-ending unassisted double play, and Vargas found himself quickly out of a scoring chance. Vargas pitched quite well in his inning in the sixth inning. His stuff was sharp and he was locating fairly well, striking out two batters in the inning. Unfortunately for him a bloop single and an inside out grounder down the right field line turned into a run against him and charged him with a loss for the game.
Swing and Misses
Jack Dashwood – 5
Luis Vargas – 4
(22-18) Rome Emperors 0, (22-17) Hub City Spartanburgers
- Isaiah Drake, RF: 0-3, BB, .284/.362/.477
- John Gil, SS: 1-3, BB, .275/.376/.444
- Eric Hartman, CF: 0-4, .308/.390/.643
- Colin Daniel, SP: 6.2 IP,7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 4.66 ERA
The Emperors were flailing against Hickory starter Aidan Curry, swinging and missing 23 times and striking out nine times in six scoreless innings. Three walks drawn sort of salvaged some decency from the game, especially from Isaiah Drake and John Gil at the top of the order, but it was really not a great game at all. Drake struck out in all three of his non-walk plate appearances, and Eric Hartman added an 0-4 with two strikeouts. In addition Rome went 0-3 on stolen base attempts, capping off a lousy day. Gil did have a hit and a walk to give one of the big bats a good performance for the series opener, but Gil is still on a pretty ugly slump since his two home runs game. Gil is 3 for his last 24 with eight strikeouts, which is as bad a stretch as we’ve ever seen him have making contact.
For Colin Daniel, it had to be a frustrating day to pitch so well and not have any shot of winning. Daniel kept Hub City pounding the ball into the ground, and worked an efficient 6 2/3 innings in which he only allowed one earned run with no walks. Daniel did give up a long home run to Malcolm Moore in the sixth inning after matching Curry for the first five, but otherwise hard contact was hard for the Spartanburgers to come by. Unfortunately for Daniel an error in the seventh inning prolonged the frame long enough for Hub City to notch two more unearned runs, burying this game and settling that he would end up with a loss despite a good line. Leading into this game Riley Frey had been phenomenal out of the bullpen for Rome, posting a 1.42 ERA with one walk to 12 strikeouts and no home runs allowed. Those numbers took a major hit when he allowed four runs to Hub City in this one, pushing his ERA to 3.86 on the season.
Swing and Misses
Colin Daniel – 8
Riley Frey – 3
(22-18) Augusta GreenJackets 8, (18-22) Columbia Fireflies 1
- Tate Southisene, 2B: 2-4, BB, 5 SB, .276/.418/.483
- Alex Lodise, SS: 1-4, BB, RBI, .251/.330/.395
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 1-5, RBI, .313/.357/.520
- Logan Forsythe, SP: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 4.96 ERA
- Aiven Cabral, RP: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 2.06 ERA
This is the game we have been waiting for, the matchup with by far the biggest intrigue out of Tuesday’s slate. Columbia and Augusta played a tight battle throughout that was marked by dominant pitching, until suddenly the GreenJackets broke out and lapped the Fireflies in the late innings. For the second straight week Logan Forsythe was chased from the game early due to poor command and an inflated pitch count, but he managed to escape the first inning with only a single run allowed and that is where the game would stay. Jaylen Paden pitched two scoreless innings of relief before turning the ball over to Aiven Cabral, who came into this outing having earned the win for each of his past five appearances on the season. All Cabral did was put up his best performance to date, carving through the Fireflies offense to the tune of six one-hit innings and eight strikeouts. Unfortunately for Cabral the offense couldn’t come up with anything major, so for the first half of his outing he still tended to a 1-0 deficit. However the bats woke up late, obviously, and Cabral once again was the pitcher of record taking his sixth win in a row. In this span Cabral has pitched all but one game in relief, but paired with the inconsistent Forsythe he has taken on a huge onus and responded. In these six wins he has 32 innings pitches and a 1.97 ERA to go along with 29 strikeouts and only seven walks.
Tate Southisene was the man to help lead the offense, and he took advantage each of the three times he reached base in this game. Southisene had two hits and a walk and everytime he got out there he ran wild, going 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts in the game and scoring two runs. Southisene has been efficient on the basepaths on his way to 32 stolen bases already this season, and in his past eight games he is 12-for-13 on stolen base attempts. With one out in the seventh inning Southisene struck out, but even when he made an out he was able to reach on the wild pitch then advance on a walk and steal third base. This allowed him to tie the game by scoring on a Luis Guanipa ground out, and Alex Lodise followed closely behind on a Juan Mateo single to give Augusta their first lead. In the next inning he got the rally started with a stinging two-out single into center field, then stole second and third base before scoring on a swinging bunt single from Lodise. Finally in the eighth inning Augusta officially broke the game open, with a Dallas Macias home run doing major damage and ballooning the lead to 6-1. Michael Martinez’s first hit as a GreenJacket went for two, scoring a runner on a line drive into the left field corner for the fourth run of the inning. Martinez would then score on an error, capping off the big inning for Augusta.
Swing and Misses
Aiven Cabral – 17
Jaylen Paden – 5
