A big night from Edwad Salcedo isn't enough to get the win for Rome's hapless pitching staff while Gwinnett and Mississippi put together good nights to collect the winz. Lynchburg's offense couldn't get going to help out Delgado who pitched well. All the rookie league teams got good starting pitching with varying results.
Gwinnett Braves 5, Columbus Clippers 1
- Matt Young LF - 2-5, 2 2B, .303 Avg
- Ruben Gotay 2B - 2-4, HR(1), 2 RBI, .194 Avg
- Wilkin Castillo C - 2-4, HR(2), 3 RBI, K, CS(1), .255 Avg
- Yohan Flande 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 4.23 ERA
A nice start from Yohan Flande backed by some bottom of the order power lifted the G-Braves to the win tonight. Ruben Gotay is on his second tenure in the Braves organization as they look anywhere and everywhere for a (Semi)reliable infield bench bat. I don't think Gotay will be the answer, but hey! no one else has been either.
Mobile BayBears 3, Mississippi Braves 4
- Ernesto Mejia 1B - 3-4, 2B, .285 Avg
- Donell Linares PH - 1-1, RBI, .264 Avg
- Brett Oberholtzer 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R(0 ER), 3 BB, 6 K, 4.26 ERA
- JJ Hoover 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 2.83 ERA
After a string of average and well below average starts, Brett Oberholtzer put together his first above average start since May 20 and he picked up his first win since May 15. Hoover appeared in relief for the second time this week leading to more speculation that he is being moved to the bullpen. This could still be a temporary situation however as Kenshin Kawakami has apparently taken his place in the rotation and if he moves up to AAA at any point (who knows if that is plausible or not) then Yohan Flande will probably go back to the bullpen and Kawakami would take that spot leaving Hoover to move back into the AA rotation. Either way there is a bit of a logjam between AA and AAA and with more college arms coming into the system it will only get worse.
Mississippi will get a scheduled off day tomorrow.
Lynchburg Hillcats 0, Winston-Salem Dash 2 - 7 Innings
- Phil Gosselin 2B - 2-3, 2B, K, .272 Avg
- Joey Terdoslavich 1B - 2-2, BB, .265 Avg
- Christian Bethancourt C - 0-3, K, .188 Avg
- Dimaster Delgado 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, K, 4.69 ERA
In a game that was completed early due to what I would assume was poor weather the Hillcats offense never got going behind Dimaster Delgado. The team collected just six hits for the game with just Gosselin getting an extra base hit. Terdoslavich is still having a nice season with a .822 OPS but his June has been forgettable as he has homered just once this month and has a .302 OBP. He still has a a bunch of doubles and is on pace for 50+ extra base hits this season. Maybe the break was just what he needed.
Zeke Spruill will look to continue his good work against the the terribly named Dash.
Savannah Sand Gnats 13, Rome Braves 8
- Edward Salcedo 3B - 5-5, 2 2B, 2 HR(9), .275 Avg
- Chris Garcia DH - 3-4, RBI, BB, .354 Avg
- Evan Gattis C - 3-4, RBI, 2 E(6), .339 Avg
- David Rohm RF - 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .262 Avg
A HUGE night from Salcedo is spoiled by more bad pitching from their staff. The pitching was so bad that recently activated infielder/outfielder Matt Weaver was pressed into duty as the emergency closer. He was the best pitcher of the night. Edward Salcedo's game was almost certainly the best offensive performance put forth by any Braves farmhand this season. This one game basically salvages the month for Salcedo who until tonight was hitting just .245 over the last two months and was on a downward spiral offensively. David Rohm is another guy we don't want to sleep on. His adjustment period took a little while coming into tonight he had an .809 OPS for the month and has steadily gotten better month to month.
Ronan Pacheco takes on the first half division winner in the Sanvannah Sand Gnats.
Princeton Rays 3, Danville Braves 2
- Nick Ahmed SS - 2-4, HR(1), .273 Avg
- William Beckwith 1B - 1-3, .286 Avg
- Elmer Reyes 2B - 1-2, 2B, RBI, BB, K, CS(1), .263 Avg
- Lucas La Point 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R(1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K, 1.50 ERA
Lucas La Point made his second solid start of the season and this year's second round draft pick went deep for his first professional homer. Ahmed isn't known for his power but don't be surprised if he feasts on what he probably considers sub-standard pitching while he is in Danville. Also just so everyone knows I think William Beckwith is a sleep prospect in our organization. I just like what he brought to the table last season.
David Filak will take the mound for Danville tomorrow night.
GCL Blue Jays 4, GCL Braves 6
- Logan Robbins DH - 1-4, HR(1), 2 K, .33 Avg
- Aris Alcantara 1B - 1-3, HR(1), K, .231 Avg
- Carlos Franco 3B - 1-3, 2 RBI, BB, K, SB(1), .192 Avg
- Felix Marte RF - 1-3, RBI, BB, K, .286 Avg
- Jean Carlos Gil 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R(1 ER), 2 BB, 7 K, 1.64 ERA
There are so many guys here that I don't know anything about. Alcantara spent last season in the DSL and was the best hitter there outside of maybe Felix Marte. Marte is 20 years old and showed some solid power in the Dominican but struck out at a very high rate and he has continued that this season (10 K in 21 AB). Alcantara hasn't shown the power yet but he has a very good approach at the plate and hits a lot of doubles. He just turned 21 so you really want to see him up at least two levels to get excited about his production.
DSL Braves 4, DSL Blue Jays 3 - 10 Innings
- Ibrahim McKenzie 1B - 2-4, 3B, RBI, K, .192 Avg
- Robinson Arno LF - 2-4, 2B, .194 Avg
- Oriel L Caicedo 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 1.35 ERA
Oriel L Caicedo (the good one) put up yet another solid start as he didn't allow any runs over his five innings of work. He has given up just four runs through 20 innings of work this season. He has just 14 K so far but everything else looks good.