The weather has been cruel to Rome early this season, so with them once again sidelined the Atlanta Braves had only three affiliates in action. Gwinnett got torched by their former center fielder Drew Waters in a blowout loss, but Mississippi redeemed the day with two well-pitched wins in a double header.
(6-6) Gwinnett Stripers 9, (8-4) Omaha Storm Chasers 18
- JP Martinez, LF: 1-6, SB, .333/.391/.571
- Luke Waddell, SS: 1-4, BB, SB, .231/.302/.359
- Alejo Lopez, 3B: 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, .323/.432/.387
- Dylan Dodd, SP: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2.61 ERA
- Jackson Stephens, RP: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
There was so much going on in this game, and early on Dylan Dodd looked fantastic for the Stripers. Dodd had four strikeouts and no hits allowed through three innings, and Gwinnett jumped out to a lead in the top of the fourth that seemed commanding. A first inning home run from Andrew Velazquez accounted for the only run up to this point, but Leury Garcia got a base hit to lead off the fourth and it opened up a string of players reaching. Luke Waddell drew a walk to follow and Alejo Lopez broke the game open with a two-run double. Luke Williams followed with a double of his own to extend the lead to 4-0, and a Sandy Leon base hit put two runners on with the top of the order ready to do damage. Or strand both runners and hand the ball back to Dodd with it still 4-0.
Dodd allowed a two run home run in the bottom of the fourth to cut that lead in half, however the bottom of Gwinnett’s order again did damage to support him. They matched Omaha’s output by striking together four singles to score two runs and it seemed what was early a pitchers duel was turning into a slugfest. Dodd’s final inning was disastrous, as he let up three runs and didn’t complete the inning, with Jackson Stephens taking over to put out the fire with Gwinnett barely clinging on up 6-5. Stephens got two quick outs in the sixth inning, then allowed a little bit of action by hitting a batter and giving up a base hit. Still he should have gotten out of it unscathed as Andrew Velazquez cruised over and tracked down a fly ball in the left center field game, but the ball bounced right out of his glove for an error and two runs scored to give Omaha a lead they never gave back. A double from our old pal Drew Waters brought in another run, and Stephens’s day ended with a line drive glancing off his hip to score another one and lead Stephens to leave following a meeting with the trainer. Ben Bowden kept the game 9-6, but gave up a grand slam in the seventh inning that iced the game in Omaha’s favor. Lopez and Williams would add on RBI hits in the top of the 8th innings to pad their stat lines a bit, but Gwinnett threw in the white towel and put Ryan Casteel out there in the eighth inning to give up five runs.
(2-3) Mississippi Braves 4, (2-3) Biloxi Shuckers 1 Game 1
- Nacho Alvarez, SS: 1-2, 2 BB, .316/.500/.368
- Drake Baldwin, C: 0-2, BB, .250/.280/.250
- Cody Milligan, CF: 2-3, 2B, BB, 3 SB, .294/.409/.412
- Drew Parrish, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 5.40 ERA
- Trey Riley, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
(3-3) Mississippi Braves 1, (2-4) Biloxi Shuckers 0 Game 2
- Nacho Alvarez, SS: 0-4, .316/.500/.368
- Drake Baldwin, C: 1-4, RBI, .250/.280/.250
- Justin Dean, RF: 1-3, SB, .357/.444/.429
- Ian Mejia, SP: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 4.70 ERA
- Jake McSteen, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA
Mississippi was back in action on Friday with a double header, and a strong performance from their pitching drove them to two wins. Drew Parrish spent last season in the Royals organization, but after being released by them he came over to the Braves in free agency and yesterday was his first start in a Mississippi uniform. The Shuckers managed consecutive two-out doubles in the first inning to take an early lead, but that was the only run they would muster in the double-header. Parrish filled up innings nicely for Mississippi, getting through five on 70 pitches though certainly with his share of action on the bases. Parrish had to work around a leadoff double in the fourth inning but managed to keep evade damage, and a key double play in the fifth inning thwarted Biloxi after their leadoff single.
Cody Milligan was the offensive star in the opener, reaching base three times and strealing three bases to cause all kinds of mayhem. In the third inning he got things started by beating out a slow grounder on the left side of the infield for a hit, and Nacho Alvarez followed by slapping a single the opposite way. Milligan would steal third base, and when the Shuckers second baseman dropped a ball on a force play that would have ended the inning Milligan was able to score to tie the game. In the fifth inning Justin Dean worked a walk to lead off the inning, and then after he was replaced by Milligan following a force play at second the Braves loaded the bases on two more walks. Keshawn Ogans brought home a run on a ground out, and Geraldo Quintero drove in two with a single to put Mississippi up big. Domingo Gonzalez and Trey Riley each had shaky innings with their command, but combined for five strikeouts and no hits in two innings of relief to close out the game.
Game two belonged entirely to pitching, as neither side scored a run through seven innings. Mississippi did load the bases in the second inning, but came away empty when a Justin Dean ground out ended the frame. The Braves didn’t have another hit until Dean’s bunt single in the fifth inning, and the top of the order failed to come through and chase him home. Fortunately Ian Mejia kept Biloxi in check, forcing weak contact throughout the game and getting support from his defense to help him through. Mejia pitched six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four batters. Jake McSteen kept the game scoreless in the seventh inning, and in the eighth he came through in a big way. After a ground out allowed the free runners to advance to third base McSteen clutched up and got two straight strikeouts to strand him and give Mississippi an opportunity. With Justin Dean on second base it wouldn’t take much to give him an opening to score. Dean scampered to third on a sharp ground ball over to first base, but Nacho Alvarez was called out on a borderline (well outside of the zone) strike three leaving Drake Baldwin as the man needing to come through. Baldwin chopped a ball over to the left side of the infield, but with the shortstop shifted he had to make a sliding stop on the play. A throw to first would have barely beat Baldwin, but it was a bit wide and the first baseman couldn’t handle it allowing Dean to score the winning run.
(3-0) Rome Emperors, (2-1) Hudson Valley Renegades – POSTPONED (…again)
(2-4) Augusta GreenJackets 1, (4-2) Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4
- Isaiah Drake, DH: 1-4, .095/.167/.095
- Robert Gonzalez, CF: 2-4, .222/.222/.333
- Didier Fuentes, SP: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA
- Adam Shoemaker, RP: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1.29 ERA
Augusta’s pitching staff had a solid day out there, but that offense is atrocious right now and unless they throw a shut out it’s going to be tough sledding. In six games Augusta had scored only eleven runs, eight fewer than the second-worst offense in the league. The other eleven teams in the league average scoring 5.5 runs per game and Augusta so far has averaged 1.8. They are the only team in the Carolina League to not have a home run so far, and in fact none of the affiliates outside of Gwinnett have gone deep through a full week of their seasons (Rome can be forgiven a bit here). Augusta ranks last in walks, stolen bases, batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage with a team OPS of .477. Luis Sanchez hit a gapper that he turned into a triple in the seventh inning then scored on a wild pitch to account for the only GreenJackets run.
Didier Fuentes really struggled in the first inning as his command was all over the place, but somehow he managed to make it through without allowing a walk or a run and would settle in as the game goes on. Fuentes has a lively fastball and was able to get some ugly swings with it, and though his command in this one never settled even close to average he was at least around the zone over the final 2 2⁄3 innings of his outing. William Silva pitched next, and he is coming off of Tommy John surgery that happened soon after being drafted in 2022. This was his second outing of the year and he was saddled with the loss, with a Sanchez error putting him behind the eight ball to lead off the fifth inning. Silva hit two batters in the inning and allowed two hits, ultimately letting up two runs which would be all Kannapolis needed in the game. Adam Shoemaker pitched the final three innings, and while his command was not as crisp as his first outing this season it’s still clear he is far improved over the pitcher that was in Augusta early last year. His slider was giving the Kannapolis lineup fits, both right and left-handed batters, and he racked up five strikeouts over three innings of work.
