Pastornicky Stays Hot, Acencio Stays Perfect, And Constanza, Mueller, and Peraza Keep Streaking To Highlight Friday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action

Tyler Pastornicky contiued to find AAA easy, Jair Ascencio recorded his 18th save in 18 chances, and Jose Constanza, Tony Mueller, and Jose Peraza extended teir hitting streaks.

Gwinnett Braves 5, Norfolk Tides 2

• Jose Constanza RF 2-5, RBI, .325 AVG
• Tyler Pastornicky SS 3-5, SB (1), .421 AVG
• Mauro Gomez 1B 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, .282 AVG
• Ruben Gotay 2B 2-3, RBI, E (4), .245 AVG
• Todd Redmond 5 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K, W (7), 3.18 ERA
• Cory Gearrin 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 2.35 ERA
• Jaye Chapman 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 2.17 ERA
• Jairo Acencio 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K, SV (18), 1.45 ERA

Tyler Pastornicky continued to make the transition to AAA look easy, with 3 singles and his first stolen base. Jose Constanza extended his hitting streak to 8 games with a 2 hit day, and he's hit .393 with a .485 OBP during that span. Mauro Gomez didn't homer for the first time in 3 days, but he did extend his hitting streak to 5 games, going 6-18 in that span. Todd Redmond was breezing through the game, but ran out of steam in the 6th. Still, he was good enough to pick up his 7th win of the year as his bullpen followed him with 4 scoreless innings. Jairo Asencio is now 18-18 in save opportunities this season and Jaye Chapman has tossed 7.1 straight scoreless innings.

Julio Teheran will try to improve on his his league leading 1.70 ERA Saturday night.

Mississippi Braves 3, Jacksonville Suns 5

• Willie Cabrera 2B 1-3, HR (5), 3 RBI, E (8), .273 AVG
• Luis Avilan 5.2 IP, 5 R, 2 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 4.95 ERA
• JJ Hoover 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 2.59 ERA

Willie Cabrera drvoe in all 3 M-Brave runs, 2 with a 1st inning homer, and the other on a 6th inning sacrifice fly. In his last 3 games, Cabrera has gone 4-13 with 2 homers and 6 RBI. JJ Hoover continues to flourish as a reliever, tossing his 7th straight scoreless appearances, covering 6.2 innings.

Lefty Brett Oberholtzer will take on the Suns tomorrow.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Salem Red Sox 6

• Marcus Lemon LF 2-5, OF Assist, .237 AVG
• Joe Leonard 3B 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .253 AVG
• Christian Bethancourt C 2-4, RBI, .247 AVG
• LV Ware CF 2-4, 2B, RBI, SB (12), .235 AVG
• Aaron Shafer 4 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 3.05 ERA
• Brett Butts 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
• Eliecer Cardenas 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.98 ERA

Andrelton Simmons saw his 12 game hitting streak end, though he did reach on a walk. Joe Leonard missed some games this week with chest pains, but he must have felt good tonight, with a 3 hit, 2 RBI day. Christian Bethacourt had a 2 hit day and is now 4 for his last 10. He also threw out the only 2 runners who attempted to steal against him. LV Ware broke an 0-15 slump with a 2 hit day. Aaron Shafer struggled through 4 innings, allowing 6 runs, 5 earned. After putting up a 1.48 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP in his first 5 appearances, he's had a 4.70 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in his last 5 games. Brett Butts has recovered from Tommy John surger and joined the Hillcats, tossing a scoreless inning in his first appearance for the team. Eliecer Cardenas has dominated for Lynchburg, with a 0.98 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and 10.9 K/9 in 39.2 innings.

Chris Masters will start the series finale Saturday.

Rome Braves 8, Delmarva Shorebirds 7

• Tony Mueller CF 1-3, RBI, 2 BB, SB (2), .292 AVG
• Edward Salcedo 3B 2-4, 2B, BB, .275 AVG
• Evan Gattis 1B 2-4, 2 HR (13, 14), 5 RBI, BB, 2 E (10, 11), .296 AVG
• Ryan Delgado C 2-4, RBI, .176 AVG
• Aaron Northcraft 3 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 3.18 ERA
• Tyler Stovall 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 K, W (1), 4.17 ERA

Evan Gattis had a full day, homering twice and driving in 5 runs, but he also made a couple errors, though he was playing out of position at first base. The 24 year old has really dominated the Sally League this year, with a .296 average and .922 OPS. Edward Salcedo reached 3 times, with a walk, a single, and a double, and he's gotten better as the year's gone on, with a .290 average and a .997 OPS after the All-Star break, compared to a .268 average and a .766 OPS before the break. Tony Mueller extended his hitting streak to 8 games, and he's hitting .454 with a 1.015 OPS in that span.

The R-Braves start a series against Kannapolis Saturday, with Caleb Brewer scheduled to take the hill.

Danville Braves 2, Burlington Royals 3

• Kyle Kubitza 3B 1-3, BB, SB (6), .281 AVG
• Greg Ross 5 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 2.84 ERA
• Dan Winnie 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 3.13 ERA
• Wilson Rivera 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 0.69 ERA
• Jarrett Miller 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 3.14 ERA

Kyle Kubitza, who models his batting stance after Jim Thome, reached twice and stole a base, and over his last 10 games he's hit .343 with a .932 OPS and 5 stolen bases. Wilson Rivera struck out 2 over a perfect inning, and the 21 year old Dominican has a 0.69 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, and 15.2 K/9 in 13 innings this season. Jarrett Miller struck out the side over a perfect inning, something the 21 year old has done plenty of this season, with 18.9 K/9 in 14.1 innings this year.

GCL Braves 5, GCL Tigers 6

• Felix Marte RF 1-3, 2 BB, SB (5), .263 AVG
  
• Logan Robbins DH 2-5, 3B, HR (4), 2 RBI, .260 AVG
• Anthony Nunez C 3-3, 2B, RBI, BB, .216 AVG
• Hector Garcia LF 0-1, 3 BB, .159 AVG
• Matt Talley 5 IP, 1 ER, 2 K, 2 BB, 3 K, 1.64 ERA

Logan Robbins tripled and homered, extending his hitting streak to 6 games. He's 8-22 with a double, 2 triples, a homer, 4 RBI, and 2 walks during that span. The 21 year old leads the team in OBP, slugging, and OPS, triples, home runs, total bases, walks, and stolen bases. Anthony Nunez had the best day of his career, reaching base every time he came to the plate, with 3 singles and a walk. The 21 year old Dominican catcher, who is in his first year playing in the US after 3 seasons in the DSL, had been just 5-34 before today. Matt Talley, a 21 year old lefty out of the Citadel, has a 1.64 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in 22 innings this season.

DSL Braves 2, DSL Angels 6

• Daniel Castro 2B 2-5, 2B, .228 AVG
• Jose Peraza SS 2-4, .276 AVG
• Oriel L. Caicedo 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 1.29 ERA

Jose Peraza extended his hitting streak to 7 games with a 2 hit day, and during the streak the 17 year old Venezuelan has hit ..419 with a .903 OPS and 3 stolen bases. Fellow 17 year old Oriel L Caicedo, a little lefty out of Panama, had another solid start, allowing 2 runs over 5 innings, though he did see a 12 inning scoreless streak over his last 3 appearances end. In 42 innings this year he has a 1.29 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP.