In what was a jam-packed day for Braves minor league affiliates, three squads came away with victories on the day.
(7-6) Gwinnett Stripers 8, (8-5) Omaha Storm Chasers 7
- J.P. Martinez, CF: 2-4, 3B, 2 R, BB
- Leury Garcia, RF: 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Sandy Leon, C: 3-4, 2 RBI, BB
- Zach Logue, SP: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Gwinnett managed to stave off a late comeback attempt by Omaha, outlasting the Storm Chasers 7-6 on Friday night.
The Stripers jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. J.P. Martinez and Andrew Velazquez led off with back-to-back walks to kick things off as David Fletcher singled Martinez home to make it 1-0.
Leury Garcia followed Fletcher with an RBI-double to make it 2-0 as Luke Waddell singled home two more runs in the frame to make it 4-0 Gwinnett.
Stripers’ starter Zach Logue tossed three scoreless innings before being lifted in the bottom of the fourth by Brooks Wilson who came on in relief. Wilson would allow two runs in the inning as Omaha was able to cut the deficit in half at 4-2.
However, the Stripers were able to give themselves some breathing room as they plated one run in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
In the fifth, Sandy Leon plated Garcia on a single to make it 5-2 Gwinnett. Garcia then singled home Martinez in the sixth frame to extend the Stripers lead to 6-2 before Leon scored Alejo Lopez on a single to make it 7-2 Gwinnett.
Despite Jake Walsh coming on and tossing a pair of scoreless innings, Ray Kerr — who has otherwise had a fantastic start to the season — allowed Omaha to score two runs to make it 7-4 Gwinnett.
In the top of the ninth, Tommy Doyle would allow two more runs, cutting the Stripers’ lead to 7-6. However, Doyle was able to finally slam the door to secure the Gwinnett win.
(3-4) Mississippi Braves 0, (3-4) Biloxi Shuckers 4
- Cal Conley, SS: 1-4
- Cody Milligan, CF: 1-4
- Luis De Avila, SP: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, K
It was a rough night for the Mississippi Braves as the Double-A affiliate struggled to just four hits while striking out ten times in the loss. The loss ends the Braves’ three-game winning streak.
Luis De Avila got the start on the mound for the Braves and allowed a run in the top of the first inning but turned around and tossed a scoreless second frame. The Shuckers would tag De Avila for two more runs — one earned — in the third and fourth innings to jump out to a 3-0 lead early on through the fourth inning.
Patrick Halligan and Jorge Juan would combine for 2.2 innings of scoreless ball, but the Braves couldn’t seem to get any offense working as the 3-0 lead would hold heading into the top of the seventh. Biloxi would add another run in the top of the seventh off of Braves’ reliever Hayden Harris to extend their lead to 4-0 over Mississippi.
The Braves would fail to muster any offense at all — going down in order in each of the final three frames to close out the game and fall by a 4-0 final.
(4-0) Rome Emperors 3, (2-2) Hudson Valley Renegades 2
- Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 1-4, 2B, R
- Sabin Ceballos, 3B: 2-4, RBI
- Ethan Workinger, LF: 1-3, RBI
- Lucas Braun, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
The first game of a doubleheader on the day for Rome ended in spectacular fashion as the Emperors walked it off in eight innings against Hudson Valley.
Things got off to a rocky start for Rome, as the Renegades jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning as Hudson Valley tagged Emperor starter Lucas Braun for one run to make it 1-0. Braun would allow an additional run in the top of the second to make a 2-0 deficit for Rome to dig out of.
Rome finally broke through on the score column in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. doubled into right field before advancing to third on a Sabin Ceballos groundout. An Ethan Workinger single brought Kilpatrick Jr. home to cut the Hudson Valley lead in half at 2-1.
Rome failed to score again for the next three innings, but finally broke through in their last at-bat of the game. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Stephen Paolini and Ambioris Tavarez drew back-to-back walks to kick off the frame. A sac bunt by Nick Ward moved both runners into scoring position before a Carols Arroyo groundout tied the game at 2-2.
After Rolddy Munoz tossed a scoreless frame in extra innings in the top of the eighth, with Justin Janas starting the bottom of the inning on second base, a Sabin Ceballos RBI-single would plate the winning run as Rome would walk off Hudson Valley to win by a 3-2 final.
(4-1) Rome Emperors 0, (3-2) Hudson Valley Renegades 1
- Ethan Workinger, CF: 1-2, 2B, BB
- Cory Wall, SP: 3 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Despite walking off game one of the doubleheader, Rome struggled to find any kind of offense in the second game on Friday.
The Emperors were only able to string together three hits in the second game, despite 2023 eighth-rounder Cory Wall tossing three scoreless innings. Wall managed to work around multiple singles and three walks through the first three innings to keep Hudson Valley off the board as the game went without its first run until the top of the fourth inning. Rob Griswold took over for Wall in the fourth frame and subsequently gave up the game’s only run — on a double into center field — to make it 1-0 Renegades.
Despite putting multiple runners on — whether by walk, hit or error — Rome was unable to plate a run in game one as Hudson Valley won squeaked by with a 1-0 final as the Emperors split Friday’s game at 1-1.
(3-4) Augusta GreenJackets 6, (4-3) Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4
- Jace Grady, LF: 2-5, 2 2B
- Diego Benitez, SS: 2-5, 2 R
- Cam Magee, 3B: 1-5, 2 RBI
- Garrett Baumann, SP: 5.2 IP, H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K
Augusta notched the third win of the day for Braves’ minor league affiliates on Friday, taking down Kannapolis by a 6-4 final.
Augusta jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning. Diego Benitez singled with two outs and would later score on a bases-loaded walk by Robert Gonzalez to make it 1-0 GreenJackets.
Defensively for the GreenJackets, 2023 fourth-rounder Garrett Baumann got the start and was spectacular in what was the longest start of his professional career to date. Despite Baumann allowing a run to tie things up at 1-1 in the bottom of the second, the 19-year-old would allow just two runs across 5.2 innings pitched while striking out three.
Augusta would retake the lead in the top of the second inning as Jacob Godman scored on a Luis Sanchez groundout to make it 2-1 GreenJackets.
Augusta would extend their lead in the top of the sixth inning as Godmand would cross the plate on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 3-1. However, in the home half of the inning, Kannapolise would get the run back to make it 3-2.
Augusta would jump back in front in the top of the seventh inning, plating three runs. Diego Benitez and Drew Compton worked back-to-back singles to start the inning before Kade Kern walked to load the bases. A Robert Gonzalez groundout would add to the GreenJacket lead to make it 4-2.
Cam Magee would then single into left field to score Compton and Kern to make it 6-2 Augusta.
After a scoreless frame by Seth Keller — with recently-converted reliever on the mound for the GreenJackets in the bottom of the eighth — Kannapolis would score twice to cut the Augusta lead to 6-4. However, recently-converted reliever Beau Philip would eventually close the door on a comeback to secure the Augusta win.
