Chipper Continues Rehab, Constanza And Gattis Extend Hitting Streaks, And Pastornicky Stays Hot To Highlight Sunday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action

Chipper Jones continued his rehab, Jose Constanza and Evan Gattis extended thier hitting streaks to 9 games, and Tyler Pastornicky continued to excel at AAA.

Gwinnett Braves 5, Norfolk Tides 6, 10 innings, Game 1

• Jose Constanza LF 1-5, SB (23), .323 AVG
• Tyler Pastornicky SS 3-4, BB, SB (2), .478 AVG
• Mauro Gomez 1B 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, .284 AVG
• Ruben Gotay DH 4-5, 2 RBI, .271 AVG
• Diory Hernandez 2B 2-5, 2B, E (12), .205 AVG
• Julio Teheran 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1.68 ERA
• Yohan Flande 6 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 12 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 3.90 ERA
• Dustin Richardson 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 BB, 1 K, 2.92 ERA

Gwinnett Braves 1, Norfolk Tides 3, 7 innings, Game 2

• Stefan Gartrell RF 2-3, OF Assist .265 AVG
• Jeff Fiorentino 1-1, 2B, 2 BB, OF Assist .261 AVG
• Steven Shell 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K, 2.80 ERA

The first game was a completion of yesterday's suspended game, which is why Julio Teheran was only credited with 1 inning. Tyler Pastornicky had a big first game, with 4 singles, a walk, and a stolen base, though he took his first 0-fer at AAA in the second game. Still, he's had a great first week at the new level, hitting .407 with a .836 OPS, 3 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Ruben Gotay had 4 hits in the first game, all coming from the right side of the plate. In his last 3 games, he's gone 6-10 with 3 RBI and a walk. Jose Constanza singled in the first game, extending his hitting streak to 9 games. During the streak, he's hit .363 with a .447 OBP and a .810 OPS. Jeff Fiorentino had a perfect game 2, with a double and 2 walks, and in hhis last 8 games he's hitting .389 with a .976 OPS.

Erik Cordier will start the series finale Monday.

Mississippi Braves 5, Jacksonville Suns 4

• Myke Jones CF 2-5, RBI, .240 AVG
• Ernesto Mejia 1B 2-4, 2B, HR (17), 2 RBI, BB, .302 AVG
• Matt Kennelly C 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, .262 AVG
• Jose Lugo 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 4.22 ERA
• JJ Hoover 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 2.56 ERA
• Benino Pruneda 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 3 K, SV (7), 4.23 ERA

Myke Jones stayed hot, extending his hitting streak to 5 games. Over that span he's gone 9-20 with a double, a triple, a homer, 3 RBI, and 2 walks, which is good for a .450 average and a 1.272 OPS. Ernesto Mejia doubled and hit his 17th homer of the year, and he's been insanely good since the All-Star break, hitting .370 with a 1.133 OPS. Matt Kennelly doubled and walked twice, and over his last 10 games the Australian catcher had hit .324 with a .419 OBP and a .770 OPS. Jose Lugo's first start with Mississippi was a great one, as he shutout the Suns over 5 innings. In his last 2 appearances he's thrown 9 scoreless innings and struck out 8. JJ Hoover made his 8th consecutive scoreless relief appearance, striking out 2 over a perfect frame. In his career, Benino Pruneda has had a tendency to wear down in the second half of a season, but July has been a great month for him, as he has a 2.79 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, and 14.9 K/9. The only real blemish for him has been the 8.4 BB/9 rate he's had this month, which has been a problem for him all year, as he has a 6.2 BB/9 rate for the season.

Mississippi is off on Monday, before beginning a series with Mobile Monday when Randall Delgado will take the mound.

Lynchburg Hillcats - Off

David Hale will get the start on Monday as the Hillcats begin a series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

Rome Braves 2, Kannapolis Intimidators 0

• Matt Lipka SS 1-4, SB (19), .237 AVG
• Tommy La Stella 2B 1-2, 2 BB, .257 AVG
• Chipper Jones 3B 1-1, RBI, BB, .333 AVG
• Evan Gattis DH 1-3, BB, .304 AVG
• Gary Moran 7.1 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K, W (4), 3.11 ERA
• Gus Schlosser 1.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (4), 2.53 ERA

Chipper Jones continued his rehab, playing third base and singling in the 1st, walking in the 3rd, and driving in a run on a 5th inning sacrifice fly. Evan Gattis couldn't follow up 2 straight 2 homer days with another homer, but he did single, extending his hitting streak to 9 games, and in that span he's hit .417 with a .889 slugging percentage and a 1.336 OPS. At 26 years old, Gary Moran is far too old to be considered a prospect, but he's done exactly what the Braves neeeded, providing a solid, innings-eating precence to Rome's rotation. He threw a season high 7.1 innings, shutting out the Intimidators along the way. Since being selected in the 17th round this year, 22 year old Gus Schlosser has put up a 1.72 ERA, a 0.83 WHIP, and 11.5 K/9 in 15.2 innings between Danville and Rome.

Willie Kempf will take on the Intimidators tomorrow.

Danville Braves 2, Pulaski Mariners 9

• Nick Ahmed DH 1-3, BB, .265 AVG
• William Beckwith 1B 1-4, RBI, .302 AVG
• Meng Tsai C 1-1, 2B, 1.000 AVG
• JR Graham 4 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 2.45 ERA
• Dan Jurik 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1.17 ERA

Nick Ahmed has done a fine job as Danville's leadoff hitter, with a .364 OBP and 8 stolen bases. His walk to strikeout ratio is also good, with 17 walks to 26 strikeouts. Meng Tsai, a 21 year old Taiwanese catcher, made his Danville debut, doubling in his lone at bat. He was 3-11 with a double and a walk this year in the GCL. After only allowing 3 earned runs in his first 18 innings, JR Graham allowed 3 in 4 innings tonight, which caused his ERA to baloon from 1.50 to 2.45.

Ernesto Silva will pitch for Danville on Monday.

GCL Braves - Off

NL All-Stars 3, AL All-Stars 5

• Emmanuel Daniel CF 0-1

Emmanuel Daniel was the DSL Braves' lone representative in the DSL All-Star game, grounding out in his only at bat. For the year, the 19 year old Dominican has a .297 average, .399 OBP, .797 OPS, 10 doubles, 1 homer, and 16 RBI in 128 at bats.