Drury Extends Hitting Streak, Rome Scores 12 Again, And Schafer Shines To Highlight Friday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action

Brandon Drury extended his hitting streak to 8 games, Rome scored 12 runs for the second straight night as Tommy La Stella continued his torrid hitting, and Aaron Shafer tossed 8 shutout innings for Mississippi.

Gwinnett Braves 2, Syracuse Chiefs 5

• Wilkin Ramirez CF 2-4, 2B, SB (15), OF Assist, .256 AVG
• Brandon Hicks SS 2-4, 2B, .262 AVG
• Wilkin Castillo LF 2-4, E (7), OF Assist, .274 AVG
  
• Diory Hernandez 3B 2-4, RBI, .195 AVG
• Yohan Flande 4.1 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 11 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 4.00 ERA
• Anthony Varvaro 1.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 3.00 ERA

In his last 4 games, Brandon Hicks is 5-15 with a double and a homer. Wilkin Castillo showed off his versatility again, playing left field, and had a pair of hits. Yohna Flande is having a decent year, with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP, but he hasn't been very good in August, with a 5.75 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP in 4 starts.

The G-Braves head to Charlotte tomorrow, where Erik Cordier will face former Brave Deunte Heath.

Mississippi Braves 3, Huntsville Stars 0

• Dan Nelson 3B 2-3, RBI, BB, .333 AVG
• Sean Henry RF 2-4, RBI, .212 AVG
• Aaron Shafer 8 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 K, W (2), 5.09 ERA
• Benino Pruneda 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (9), 3.47 ERA

Aaron Shafer had his best start with Mississippi, shutting out the Stars over 8 innings, striking out 6. Benino Pruneda followed him, striking out 2 over a scoreless inning, picking up his 9th save. Pruneda hasn't allowed an earned run in 6 August innings, striking out 8 over 9.1 innings. In his last 9 games, Dan Nelson has gone 13-32 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI.

Jose Lugo will start the series finale tomorrow.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Frederick Keys 2

• Andrelton Simmons SS 1-4, .306 AVG
• Marcus Lemon LF 3-4, .273 AVG
• Gerry Rodriguez DH 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, .210 AVG
• Matt Crim 5 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 5.54 ERA
• Jeremy Haynes 2.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 6.48 ERA
• Ryan Buchter 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (14), 3.89 ERA

Andrelton Simmons singled, extending his hitting streak to 4 games, and he's gone 8-16 in that span. Gerry Rodriguez also extended his hitting streak to 4 games, going 5-13 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI in those games. In his last 2 games, Marcus Lemon is 5-8, and over his last 10 games he's hitting .355 with a .799 OPS. Matt Crim picked up his first win since April, striking out 5 over 5 innings. Jeremy Haynes pitched his fifth consecutive scoreless appearance, and in those games he's struck out 10 over 7.2 innings and allowed just 1 walk. Ryan Buchter picked up his 14th save with a perfect 9th inning, and he's had a great August, with a 0.93 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts in 9.2 innings.

David Hale is scheduled to pitch for the Hillcats tomorrow.

Rome Braves 12, Asheville Tourists 3

• Matt Lipka SS 2-4, 2B, RBI, BB, .238 AVG
• Tommy La Stella 2B 3-4, HR (7), 3 RBI, BB, .315 AVG
• Chris Garcia 1B 2-5, 2B, HR (14), 2 RBI, .322 AVG
• David Rohm RF 3-5, 2B, RBI, .267 AVG
• Ryan Delgado C 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, .250 AVG
• Aaron Northcraft 5.1 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 4 BB, 2 K, W (4), 3.66 ERA
• Gus Schlosser 2.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 2.68 ERA

Rome had so much fun scoring 12 runs last night they decided to do it again tonight. Tommy La Stella had his fourth straight multi-hit game, and in that span he's gone 13-17 with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 7 RBI. Over his last 9 games, he's hitting .576 with a 1.592 OPS, 2 doubles, a triple, 3 homers, and 12 RBI. Matt Lipka extended his hitting streak to 4 games, and he's gone 7-17 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI, and 2 walks in those games. Chris Garcia cracked out his 14th homer of the season, and in his last 3 games he's 7-14 with 4 doubles, a homer, and 6 RBI. David Rohm has also been hot in his last 3 games, going 8-15 with 3 doubles. Ryan Delgado had a 3 hit, 2 RBI day, and in his last 4 games he's gone 6-15. Gus Schlosser closed out the game by striking out 4 over 2.1 scoreless innings, his 4th consecutive scoreless appearance. The 22 year old righty has a 1.95 ERA, a 0.94 WHIP, and 31 strikeouts in 27.2 innings between Danville and Rome since the Braves selected him in the 17th round this year.

Ronan Pacheco will face the Tourists tomorrow.

Danville Braves 5, Johnson City 4, 16 innings

• Nick Ahmed SS 2-7, 2B, 3B, RBI, .261 AVG
• Kyle Kubitza PH-3B-LF 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .293 AVG
• Brandon Drury 3B 3-6, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, .357 AVG
• William Beckwith DH 2-4, .298 AVG
• David Filak 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 5.88 ERA
• Ryne Harper 4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 1.02 ERA
• Wilson Rivera 4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K, W (2), 1.07 ERA

Nick Ahmed tripled home Nick DeSantiago in the top of the 16th to cement the win for Danville. Ahmed also doubled in the game, and in his last 10 games he's hitting .354 with a .946 OPS, 2 doubles, 2 triples, a homer, 4 RBI, 4 walks, and 4 stolen bases. Brandon Drury's 3 hits extended his hitting streak to 8 games, and he's hit .513 with a 1.214 OPS, 3 doubles, a homer, and 7 RBI. But, the most impressive thing about his game today was that he worked 2 walks, after only walking 3 times in his first 52 games. David Filak had his third consecutive quality start, and he has a 2.12 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP in those starts. Ryne Harper struck out 4 over 4 scoreless innings, and in his last 3 appearances he's struck out 8 over 7.1 scoreless innings. Wilson Rivera also had 4 scoreless innings, picking up his second win of the year, and in 25.1 innings this season, he has a 1.07 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, and 13.9 K/9.

Adam Holland is scheduled to face the Cardinals tomorrow.

GCL Braves 4, GCL Phillies 1, Game 1

• Aris Alcantra 1B 1-3, 2B, .265 AVG
• Felix Marte RF 1-3, SB (6), .273 AVG
• Hector Garcia LF 0-2, 2 SB (10, 11), .215 AVG
• Williams Perez 5 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 2 K, W (2), 1.93 ERA

GCL Braves 2, GCL Phillies 3, Game 2

• Aris Alcantra 1B 1-3, SB (8), .265 AVG
• Ronald Luna SS 2-3, .279 AVG
• Wei Huang 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 3.44 ERA

Aris Alcantra was 2-6 with a double and a steal in the doubleheader, and he's hitting .270 with a .804 OPS in his last 10 games. Ronald Luna didn't play in the first game, but went 2-3 in the second, extending his hitting streak to 5 games. He's gone 7-16 with 3 RBI during the streak. Williams Perez, a 20 year old Venezuelan righty, started his season with Danville, and pitched decently, with a 3.33 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP in 24.1 innings, yet he was still demoted to the GCL. He didn't pout though, and has pitched even better, with a 1.93 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 14 innings. Wei Huan, a 21 year old Taiwanese righty made his first start of the year, shutting out the Phillies over 5 innings. In 18.1 innings this year, he has a 3.44 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.

DSL Braves - suspended after 3 and a half innings