Constanza And Bethancourt Keep Streaking While Flande, Shafer, and Pacheco Pitch Well To Highlight Saturday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action

Jose Constanza stole 3 bases and extended his hitting streak to 9 games, while Christian Bethancourt had his 5th straight multi-hit game. Yohan Flande, Aaron Shafer, and Ronan Pacheco all had solid starts for their respective teams.

Gwinnett Braves 0, Indianapolis Indians 1

• Jose Constanza CF 1-3, 2 BB, 3 SB (14, 15, 16), .345 AVG
• Shawn Bowman 3B 2-3, 2B, .278 AVG
• Yohan Flande 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 3.73 ERA
• Cory Gearrin 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 3.00 ERA

Gwinnett couldn't must any offense, with just 4 hits in the game, and Anthony Varvaro allowed 3 consecutive singles for the walkoff Indianapolis victory. Yohan Flande was excellent, striking out 5 over 6 shutout innings. Cory Gearrin had a successful return to AAA, tossing 2 scoreless innings and striking out 3. In 10 appearances for Gwinnett he has a 3.00 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP, compared to a 3.69 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 13 appearances for Atlanta. Jose Constanza reached base 3 times, on a single and a pair of walks, and stole 3 bases. He now has a 9 game hitting streak, hitting .487 with a .524 OBP and a .1.139 OPS in that span. Shawn Bowman had a pair of hits, including a double, to extend his own hitting streak to 7 games. He's hit .480 with a 1.120 OPS during that streak.

Erik Cordier faces the Indians sunday afternoon.

Mississippi Braves 5, Chattanooga Lookouts 11

• Willie Cabrera LF-2B 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, OF Assist .273 AVG
• Ernesto Mejia 1B 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, .264 AVG
• Brett Oberholtzer 3 IP, 6 R, 3 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 4.80 ERA
• Yeliar Castro 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 3.09 ERA

Brett Oberholtzer had another rough start, allowing 8 hits and 3 walks without being able to record an out in the 4th, and his defense let him down as 3 of the 6 runs he allowed were unearned. In his last 4 starts he has a 10.21 ERA and a 2.36 WHIP. Yeliar Castro tossed 3 scoreless innings, and over his last 3 appearances he has thrown 6 scoreless innings, walking none and striking out 6. Willie Cabrera had a pair of hits, including a double, to extend his hitting streak to 7 games. Over that span, he's hit .379 with a .827 OPS. He also had 2 RBI tonight and played second base for the second time in his career.

All-Star JJ Hoover will take the mound Sunday.

Lynchburg Hillcats 3, Frederick Keys 2

• Todd Cunningham CF 0-2, 2 BB, .278 AVG
• Andrelton Simmons SS 1-4, RBI, .307 AVG
• Aaron Shafer 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K, W (1), 2.20 ERA
• Ryan Buchter 1.1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (3), 1.04 ERA

The Hillcats didn't get much offense in this one, only getting 4 hits, but they made the most of what they got, scoring 3 runs. Todd Cunningham did what a leadoff hitter is supposed to do, get on base, reaching on a pair of walks. The 22 year old has a .440 OBP so far in June. Over his last 4 games, Andrelton Simmons is just 3-16, but 2 of those hits were doubles and he has driven in 3 runs in those games. Aaron Scafer seems to be enjoying his new surroundings, picking up his first win in the Atlanta organization by allowing just 1 run over 7 innings. Ryan Buchter was Shafer's teammate with the Cubs and he's also thriving since coming to the Braves in exchange for Rodrigo Lopez (who has a 6.30 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 10 innings for Chicago). Buchter, a 24 year old lefty, has a 1.04 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, and 3 saves in 5 appearances for Lynchburg.

Zeke Spruill will pitch in the series finale Sunday evening.

Rome Braves 6, Greenville Drive 5

• Christian Bethancourt C 2-4, 2 SB (4, 5), .296 AVG
• Edward Salcedo 3B 1-4, RBI, SB (12), E (22), .274 AVG
• Chris Garcia 1B 1-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, .344 AVG
• Robby Hefflinger RF 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, OF Assist, .274 AVG
• Ronan Pacheco 4 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 4.09 ERA
• Tyler Hess 1.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K, SV (6), 3.48 ERA

Christian Bethancourt extended his hitting streak to 5 games, and he's had a pair of hits in each one, going 10-21 with 4 doubles, 4 RBI, a walk and just one strikeout in that span. Edward Salcedo had been able to avoid the error monster for a while, but he made one tonighit, his 22nd of the year, and his 15th in 38 games at third base. Still, he had a single and stole a base and has hit .282 with a .928 OPS in his last 10 games. Chris Garcia has played well lately too, with 3 straight multi-hit games, hitting .368 with a 1.007 OPS in his last 10 games. Robby Hefflinger had a pair of hits, including an RBI double, and an outfield assist. He's been hot in his last 10 also, hitting .350 with a .981 OPS. Ronan Pacheco came off the disabled list to pitch for the first time since May 23rd, and had one of his most productive appearances of the year, allowing 1 run over 4 innings. Tyler Hess struck out 4 over 1.2 innings to pick up his 6th save of the year, all of them coming in his last 10 appearances.

The R-Braves head to Savannah tomorrow, with Caleb Brewer scheduled to start.

DSL Braves 8, DSL Angles 4

• Jose Peraza SS 2-4, .250 AVG
• Emmanuel Daniel RF 1-3, 2 RBI, BB, SB (2), .433 AVG
• Ruben Rijkhof LF 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, .214 AVG
• Elvin Garcia 6 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 3 K, W (2), 1.89 ERA

Emmanuel Daniel just keeps rolling, getting on twice, driving in two runs, and stealing a base. In his last 4 games, he's gone 8-14 with 7 RBI. 17 year old Venezuelan shorstop Jose Peraza has gone 4-8 with an RBI in his last 2 games. Elvin Garcia had a solid start, allowing 3 runs, 2 earned, over 6 innings while striking out 3 and walking none. In 4 games this year the 20 year old Nicaraguan lefty has a 1.89 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP.