It was a glorious Friday for Atlanta Braves fans, as up at the big league level they won an exciting home opener. Then down at the minor league level the final three affiliates had their opening days, giving us our first full slate of baseball of 2024. There were a handful of brilliant performances, but no one shined as brightly as 2022 first round pick Owen Murphy did in the first ever Rome Emperors game.
(4-3) Gwinnett Stripers 6, (4-3) Louisville Bats 5
- JP Martinez, CF: 0-4
- Luke Waddell, SS: 1-4
- Luke Williams, 1B: 2-3, 2B
- AJ Smith-Shawver, SP: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 40.50 ERA
- Dylan Dodd, RP: 6.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1.54 ERA
This game got off to a nightmarish start for the Stripers as AJ Smith-Shawver couldn’t find his command and didn’t make it out of the first inning. With the Braves looking to limit him somewhat this year he was pulled once he hit 29 pitches, and ultimately allowed three runs to put Gwinnett in a big early hole. The offense would come through for him though, and in the second inning they managed to drive in a run as soft contact found holes for three straight hits. Luke Williams then delivered the big blow, bringing home two runs with a double to tie the game.
From here Dylan Dodd would take over for the Stripers, and he put up a masterclass in relief and shut down the Louisville offense. Dodd never had a clean inning, but managed to strand every runner that reached against him and three six consecutive scoreless innings of relief. In the third inning Gwinnett strung together another big rally, with a Leury Garcia sacrifice fly putting them on top. After Alejo Lopez dropped in a double Sandy Leon extended the lead by driving in two with an RBI single. Dodd would finally run into trouble he couldn’t work around in the ninth inning, starting with a leadoff single. An infield single would put another runner on base, and a double brought home one run and put the tying run at second base. Dodd got a ground out for the second out, but issued a walk and was pulled from the game for Grant Holmes. Coming in with the tying run on third base Holmes needed to get out of trouble and he came through by getting a called strike three to close out the win.
(0-1) Mississippi Braves 6, (1-0) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 8
- Nacho Alvarez, SS: 2-4,2B, BB, RBI
- Drake Baldwin, C: 3-5, 3 RBI
- Cody Milligan, CF: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, RBI, .230/.315/.415
- Ian Mejia, SP: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 21.60 ERA
- Trey Riley, RP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
Mississippi was the only thing that stood between the system and a sweep for the day, and they unfortunately came up short as the Blue Wahoos put up numbers offensively. It was a dream start for the Braves in the first inning, as they got a bit of fortune to take an early lead. Cody Milligan led off with a walk, then a Nacho Alvarez flare into right field fell for a hit and Drake Baldwin brought home a run by beating out a high chopper to third base. Keshawn Ogans then lined one up the middle for a hit to load the bases with no outs still, but the Braves would blow an opportunity to get breathing room early. Two straight strikeouts and a ground out ended the inning with no further damage done. Mississippi added on in the second inning, with Cody Milligan driving in a run with a double and Nacho Alvarez following him with the same on a play where the ball hit off of the right fielders glove as he stumbled near the wall. Mississippi’s 3-1 lead at this point didn’t hold long as Ian Mejia struggled in his season debut. Pensacola had Mejia’s number, getting four hits and scoring four runs off of him as Mejia couldn’t finish the second inning.
In the fourth inning Baldwin had his second RBI single of the day to tie the game up, but this tie didn’t last long. Reliever Drew Parrish allowed a home run to the first batter he faced in the bottom of the fourth to put the Blue Wahoos back on top in the game. Mississippi tied the game back up, but once again Parrish couldn’t hold it down and in his second inning of work allowed two runs to let Pensacola get right back in the lead. The teams continued the process of trading runs in the eighth inning, with Drake Baldwin coming through with another RBI single and Pensacola getting that run right back in the bottom of the eighth. The Braves found a little life in the ninth inning with a single by Geraldo Quintero and a tough-fought walk for Cal Conley, but Justin Dean struck out to end the game.
(1-0) Rome Emperors 4, (0-1) Hickory Crawdads 0
- Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 2-5, RBI
- Sabin Ceballos, 3B: 1-4, HBP
- Ambioris Tavarez, SS: 1-4
- Owen Murphy, SP: 6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 0.00 ERA
- Rolddy Munoz, RP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
The first Rome Emperors game will go down as the first Rome Emperors W, as the pitching dominated Hickory behind the brilliance of Owen Murphy. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. returned to the team in his familiar role as leadoff hitter, and he got the Rome day started by singling in the bottom of the first inning. He advanced on a ground out, then on a base hit by Ethan Workinger came in to score easily to put Rome up 1-0. On the play the ball got past the left fielder and rolled toward the wall, leading Workinger to try to come all the way around to score on the play, but he was thrown out. Neither side would score again until the later innings, though there were some interesting notes here for Rome. Ambioris Tavarez had a nice looking base hit in the bottom of the second inning, showcasing a simplified swing that can hopefully help him cut back on the strikeouts that plagued his 2023. Sabin Ceballos had an awful showing in his first game, as although he did have his first hit in a Rome uniform he made a couple of critical defensive miscues, missing a routine throw across to first place and dropping a chopped ground ball. In the seventh inning the Emperors would get back on the board, with Ethan Workinger driving in Stephen Paolini to double the Rome lead. In the ninth inning Rome tacked on two more, with Kevin Kilpatrick Jr.’s second hit of the day bringing in the fourth and final run.
Owen Murphy came in ready to play on opening day, and from the first pitch he was in total control of the game. Murphy commanded all of his pitches well, and in the first inning struck out the side in order. He retired the first 11 batters he faced, striking out six of those and getting only weak contact from the other five. Finally in the fourth inning Hickory snuck a single through and got a second on a weak chopper down the line that Ceballos had no chance on, but Murphy escaped with a pop out and kept it scoreless through four innings. Those were the only hits he would allow in the game, and other than those two Ceballos errors no one reached base until Murphy lost control a bit at the end and walked the final batter he faced. Murphy had batters off balance all game, utilizing his slow curveball with more frequency than last season, and pitched the most dominant outing of his young career to date. The bullpen came through to shut down the remainder of the game, although Rolddy Munoz had struggles in the ninth and loaded the bases because he had zero command of any of his pitches.
(1-0) Augusta GreenJackets 2, (0-1) Columbia Fireflies 1
- Isaiah Drake, CF: 0-3, BB
- Diego Benitez, SS: 1-4
- Jace Grady, RF: 1-3, BB, RBI
- Garrett Baumann, SP: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA
- Adam Shoemaker, RP: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA
Augusta sent two young pitchers to the mound on Friday evening, and both put up strong performances to lead the team to a close win. It was a day to forget for the Augusta offense, who struck out 14 times and failed to string together hits throughout the game. Fireflies pitcher Mauricio Veliz struck out the first six GreenJackets he saw, but 19 year old left fielder Robert Gonzalez ended that streak by lacing a double into the right field corner. Gonzalez would come around to score as he was walked in, but a Diego Benitez double play ended the threat with Augusta only getting one run. Columbia tied the game in the top of the fourth inning, erasing this early work and leaving the Augusta offense needing to add on. Leiker Figueroa would provide the offense they needed, hitting a sharp ground ball over to third base. The defender made a fine diving pick, but sailed the throw to first and into the dugout allowing Figueroa to advance to second base. Figueroa advanced to third on a fly, then scored on an odd play. Isaiah Drake flew out, not deep enough to score Figueroa, but the throw home squirted through the legs of Columbia’s catcher and Figueroa scampered home to give Augusta a lead.
Garrett Baumann had a solid outing to start the year, though he did run into a handful of trouble spots. In the first inning his changeup was a weapon for him and he shut down the Fireflies in order with one strikeout. Trouble brewed in the second as he loaded the bases, but he ultimately made the big pitch to get a ground out and escape with no further damage. This was really the only spot he struggled, with the defense behind him being the reason he was let down. The leadoff hitter in the fourth inning hit a grounder to first base that snuck past Drew Compton for an error, then a gaffe in center field ultimately brought the runner home after he advanced to second on a prior ground out. Isaiah Drake caught a fly out for the second out, but apparently forgetting the number of outs in the inning as he flipped the ball over to his right fielder according to the broadcast and the runner scored from second on the play. Adam Shoemaker came in to piggyback Baumann’s outing and he was brilliant. Shoemaker commanded the ball much better than he did in his starts in 2023 and other than allowing a couple of hits in his first inning of work really didn’t struggle at all. Shoemaker struck out six batters across four innings of work, issuing only one walk and never really running into a major jam throughout. Shoemaker struck out 2023 8th overall pick Blake Mitchell in both of their matchups.
