Drury And Garcia Stay Hot, While Cordier, Kempf, And La Point All Pitch Well To Highlight Friday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action

Brandon Drury extended his dominance over the last week and a half with his second homer of the year and Chris Garcia homered for the third straight day. On the pitching side, Erik Cordier, Willie Kempf, and Lucas LaPoint all had solid outings.

Gwinnett Braves 6, Charlotte Knights 3

• Martin Prado 3B 2-3, RBI, BB, .286 AVG
• Stefan Gartrell RF 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, .268 AVG
• Jeff Fiorentino CF 2-3, 2 2B, .228 AVG
• Erik Cordier 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 K, W (3), 5.47 ERA
• Jairo Asencio 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (14), 1.80 ERA
  

Martin Prado picked up his first hits of his rehab assignment tonight, with a pair of singles, a walk, and a RBI. He played third base, as the team not only wants him to return to Atlanta healthy, but just as versatile as he was before. Jeff Fiorentino broke a 0-9 stretch with a pair of doubles. Erik Cordier had a solid start, working around 4 walks to allow just 1 run over 6 innings.

The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday, with Cristhian Martinez and Yohan Flande scheduled to start.

Mississippi Braves 9, Mobile Bay Bears 14

• Tyler Pastornicky SS 2-5, .298 AVG
• Dan Nelson LF-2B 2-4, 2B, .263 AVG
• Willie Cabrera 2B 1-3, HR (3), RBI, BB, E (4), .275 AVG
• Donell Linares 3-4, RBI, BB, E (8), .279 AVG
• Cory Harrilchak RF 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI, .244 AVG
• Paul Clemens 4.1 IP, 9 R, 8 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 3.90 ERA
• Benino Pruneda 1.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 4.46 ERA

Paul Clemens had one of his worst starts of the season, and after putting up a 2.08 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP in April and May, since the start of June he has a 7.15 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. Cory Harrilchak continues his resurgence with a pair of doubles and 3 RBI. In his last 6 games, he's gone 10-20 with 3 doubles, 2 homers, 13 RBI and 5 walks. A pair of singles extended Tyler Pastornicky's hitting streak to 5 games, and he's gone 11-25 with 2 doubles, a triple, a homer, and 3 RBI in that span. Willie Cabrera played second base for the 7th time this year, committing his first error at the position. His bat isn't that exciting for a corner outfielder, but it would profile nicely if he could convert to playing second base full time.

Kenshin Kawakami is set to start tomorrow.

Lynchburg Hillcats 1, Kinston Indians 6, Game 1

• Marcus Lemon CF 1-3, 2B, .250 AVG
• Chris Masters 5.1 IP, 6 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 7 K, 3.61 ERA

Lynchburg Hillcats 0, Kinston Indians 1

• Andrelton Simmons SS 1-4, 2B, .297 AVG
• Keenan Wiley RF 2-3, .303 AVG
• David Hale 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 4.60 ERA
• Dimather Delgado 1 iP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 4.33 ERA
  

In game one, the Hillcats only mustered 2 hits in support of Chris Masters, who kept his team in the game until the 6th inning when he gave up a pair of walks and a single to plate one run, then reliever Jeremy Haynes allowed both of his inherited runners to score. In game two, the team managed to triple their hit total, but couldn't manage to push a run across, wasting a good start by David Hale. In 2 starts since joining the rotation, Hale has a 2.00 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Dimasther Delgado struck out 2 over a scoreless relief inning. After missing all of last season with a broken leg, the team is likely using Delgado as a reliever now to limit his innings and keep him fresh through the end of the season. Keenan Wiley was 3-5 in the doubleheader.

Lynchburg returns home Saturday to being a series against the Potomac Nationals, with Zeke Spruill set to start the opener.

Rome Braves 4, Greenville Drive 3

• Chris Garcia DH 2-4, HR (9), RBI, .343 AVG
• Robby Hefflinger LF 2-4, 3B, RBI, .278 AVG
• Willie Kempf 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 3.81 ERA

Chris Garcia homered for the third straight day, and he's been the veteran presence in the middle of Rome's lineup that Atlanta hoped he would be when they signed him. Robby Hefflinger's second year in Rome has gone better than his first, as he's improved to a .278 average and a .737 OPS this year after hitting .245 with a .678 OPS last season. Still, his .312 OBP this year isn't much of an improvement over the .203 OBP he put up last year, and  he's still striking out in 30% of his at bats. Willie Kempf had a solid start, allowing just 1 run over 6 innings, and in his last 3 starts, he has a 1.65 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.

Carlos Perez is set to pitch Saturday.

Danville Braves 2, Bluefield Blue Jays 3, 6 innings

• Brandon Drury 3B 2-3, HR (2), RBI, .333 AVG
• Lucas La Point 6 IP, 3 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K, 1.96 ERA

A first inning error by Elmer Reyes led to 3 unearned Bluefield runs, which was all they would need to beat Danville in a game that was called after 6 innings because of rain. Lucas La Point is 0-3 on the season, but is sporting a 1.96 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and a 10.5 K/BB rate. Brandon Drury had a pair of hits, including his second homer of the year, and over his last 9 games, the 18 year old is hitting .436 with a 1.154 OPS, 5 doubles, 2 homers, and 9 RBI.

David Filak will take on bluefield Saturday, and Bobby Cox is scheduled to make an appearance in Danville as well.

GCL Braves - Postponed

DSL Braves 2, DSL Tigers 5

• Jose Peraza SS 1-4, SB (17), 2 E (9, 10), .252 AVG
• Elvin Garcia 5 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 2.58 ERA
• Oriel L. Caicedo 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 1.38 ERA

Jose Peraza one again showed off his potential and youth, swiping his 17th bag but also making a pair of errors. Elvin Garcia gave up a lot of hits, but still was relatively effective. The 21 year old Nicaraguan lefty hasn't walked a batter in 5 appearances, and sports a fantastic 8.3 K/BB rate this season.