Drury Extends Streak To 16 Games And Gwinnett Hits Team Record 9 Homers To Highlight Sunday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action

Brandon Drury extended his hitting streak to 16 games, Gwinnett pounded out a team record 9 home runs, Myke Jones reached base 5 times, and Evan Gattis had 4 hits in a doubleheader.

Gwinnett Braves 14, Norfolk Tides 8

• Stefan Gartrell RF 2-5, HR (26), 4 RBI, OF Assist, .261 AVG
• Mauro Gomez 1B 4-4, 2B, HR (21), 2 RBI, BB, .287 AVG
• Brandon Hicks SS 1-4, HR (17), 4 RBI, BB, .260 AVG
• Wilkin Castillo 3B 2-4, HR (5), 2 RBI, .270 AVG
• Wil Nieves C 2-4, .263 AVG
• Erik Cordier 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 K, W (5), 5.33 ERA
• JJ Hoover 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 4.02 ERA

The G-Braves and Tides combined to score 22 runs and rap out 26 hits, including 14 extra base hits and 9 homers. Stefan Gartrell hit his 26th homer of the year and drove in 4 runs, upping his league leading total to 91. Brandon Hicks hit a grand slam for his 17th homer of year. Hicks' AAA numbers have been good, a .260 average, a .804 OPS, 17 homers and 48 RBI in only 331 at bats, though he's struck out in 37% of is at bats. Mauro Gomez hit his 31st double of the year and his 21st homer, and in his last 10 games he's hitting .385 with a 1.056 OPS. JJ Hoover has yet to allow a run in 8 relief appearances for Gwinnett, striking out 22 in 10.2 innings.

The team heads to Durham tomorrow, where Todd Redmond will try to help capture a playoff spot.

Mississippi Braves 4, Birmingham Barons 9, 12 innings

• Myke Jones CF 2-4, 2B, 3 BB, SB (16), OF Assist, .261 AVG
• Sean Henry LF 4-7, .265 AVG
• Matt Kennelly C 2-5, BB, 2 E (11, 12), .260 AVG
• Luis Avilan 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 4.40 ERA
• Richard Sullivan 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 4.18 ERA

Myke Jones reached base 5 out of the 7 times he came to the plate, extending a great August that has seen him hit .320 with a .421 OBP, .858 OPS, 6 doubles, 2 homers, 12 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. Sean Henry had a 4 hit day, extending his hitting streak to 7 games. During that span he's gone 14-34 with 4 doubles and 5 RBI. In his last 3 games, Matt Kennelly has gone 6-15 with a double and 3 RBI. In his last 2 starts, Luis Avilan has only allowed 1 earned run over 11 innings, giving up 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 13.

Aaron Shafer will start on Monday for the M-Braves.

Lynchburg Hillcats 2, Kinston indians 9

• Christian Bethancourt DH 2-4, 2B, RBI, .273 AVG
• Joey Terdoslavich 1B 2-4, .287 AVG
• Barrett Kleinknecht 2B 1-4, HR (5), RBI, .215 AVG
• Caleb Brewer 2.2 IP, 5 ER, 3 H, 7 BB, 2 K, 5.28 ERA
•  Andrew Russell 2.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 4.62 ERA

Hurricane Irene forced this series to be moved from Kinston to Lynchburg, though the home field advantage didn't really help the Hillcats. Christian Bethancourt had a 2 hit day, extending his hitting streak to 6 games, and he's gone 11-27 with a double and 8 RBI in that span. After hitting .243 with a .524 OPS in July, the 19 year old catcher has turned in a .317 average and a .711 OPS so far in August. Joey Terdoslavich also had a pair of hits, extending his own hitting streak to 5 games, and he's gone 9-21 with 2 doubles and a RBI in those games. Caleb Brewer walked 7 without making it out of the 3rd, and in 15.1 innings with the Hillcats he's walked 17 and only struck out 9. Andrew Russell hasn't allowed a run in 5 August appearances, spanning 12 innings.

Gary Moran will face the Indians on Monday.

Rome Braves 8, Kannapolis Intimidators 5, Game 1

• Matt Lipka SS 1-3, BB, 2 SB (23, 24), .237 AVG
• Tommy La Stella DH 1-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB, .327 AVG
• Evan Gattis C 3-3, 2 2B, 4 RBI, BB, .325 AVG
• Edward Salcedo 3B 2-4, 2B, .254 AVG
• Willie Kempf 6.1 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 2 K, W (5), 4.06 ERA

Rome Braves 6, Kannapolis Intimidators 14, Game 2

• Matt Lipka SS 0-2, 2 BB, SB (25), E (12), .236 AVG
• Evan Gattis DH 1-2, 2 RBI, BB, .326 AVG
• Edward Salcedo 3B 1-3, 2 RBI, 3 E (44, 45, 46), .254 AVG
• David Rohm RF 3-4, .280 AVG
• Carlos Perez 2.2 IP, 9 R, 2 ER, 9 H, 3 BB, 1 K, 4.90 ERA

In his last 3 games, Matt Lipka is just 1-8, but he's also taken 4 walks and stolen 4 bases. In his last 10 games, he has a .349 OBP. Evan Gattis was 4-5 with 2 doubles, 6 RBI, and 2 walks in the doubleheader. The 25 year old has had a phenomenal August, hitting .398 with a 1.141 OPS, 10 doubles, 6 homers, and 28 RBI. Edward Salcedo was 3-7 with a double and 2 RBI in the doubleheader, but he also committed 3 errors in the second game. Aside from the high error total, he was having a nice season right up until August, a month that's seen him hit just .204 with a .530 OPS. David Rohm had 3 hits in the second game, and he's had a great August, hitting .354 with a .926 OPS, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, and 8 RBI.

Aaron Northcraft will face Kannapolis tomorrow.

Danville Braves 4, Bluefield Blue Jays 11

• Nick Ahmed SS 1-2, 2B, BB, .264 AVG
• Kyle Kubitza DH 2-3, 2 2B, 2 BB, .325 AVG
• Brandon Drury 3B 1-5, 3 RBI, 2 E (7, 8), .347 AVG
• Chase Larsson LF-RF 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, E (2), .255 AVG
• Greg Ross 4.1 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 3.94 ERA
• Ryne Harper 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.83 ERA

Nick Ahmed had a double and a walk in 3 plate appearances, and in his last 10 games he's hit .279 with a .826 OPS. Kyle Kutizba his a pair of doubles and worked a pair of walks, and he's hitting .400 in August, with a 1.035 OPS, 7 doubles and 11 RBI. Brandon Drury extended his hitting streak to 16 games, and during that streak he's gone 29-72 with 8 doubles, a homer, 14 RBI, and 2 walks, numbers that come out to a .403 average and a .959 OPS. In his last 2 games, Chase Larsson has gone 5-7 with 3 doubles, and over his last 10 games he's hitting .351 with a .968 OPS. Ryne Harper struck out 3 over 2 scoreless innings, his fifth straight scoreless appearence, and he's struck out 15 over 11.1 innings in that span.

With the loss, Danville is 1 game behind Bluefield with 2 games left in the season. They face the Jays each of those last 2 games, so their fate is in their own hands. David Filak will take the mound on Monday.