Drury Extends Streak To 18 Games, Lugo Dominates Again, And Masters Is Ejected, Highlighting Tuesday's Atlanta Braves Minor league Action

Brandon Drury finished his season with a 18 game hitting streak, Jose Lugo continued his recent dominance, Lynchburg got in a bit of a tussle, with 3 players getting ejected from the game.

Gwinnett Braves 3, Durham Bulls 4

• Ruben Gotay 2B 2-4, RBI, .263 AVG
• Mauro Gomez DH 1-4, 2B, RBI, .292 AVG
• Stefan Gartrell LF 2-3, 2B, BB, .267 AVG
• Wes Helms 1B 2-3, E (3), .176 AVG
• Wilkin Ramirez RF 2-4, 2B, OF Assist, .262 AVG
• Yohan Flande 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 3.91 ERA
• Peter Moylan 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA

Peter Moylan made his 4th rehab appearance with Gwinnett, and only needed 13 pitches to strike out the side in his one inning of work. The Aussie is scheduled to pitch another inning tomorrow in Norfolk before being activated by Atlanta on Thursday. Mauro Gomez extended his hitting treak to 8 games with a RBI double, and in those 8 games he's hitting .531 with a 1.446 OPS. Stefan Gartrell had his 4th straight 2 hit game, and he's gone 8-14 with a double, a homer, 4 RBI and 3 walks in that span. In his last 10 games, Wilkin Ramirez is hitting .314 with a .808 OPS, thought he's struck out 11 times as well.

Gwinnett remains in a tie with Lehigh Valley for the IL Wild Card spot. On Wednesday they'll head to Norfolk for a doubleheader against the worst team in Minor League baseball.

Mississippi Braves 9, Birmingham Barons 1

• Myke Jones CF 1-4, 2B, RBI, BB, .259 AVG
• Antoan Richardson LF 2-4, 2B, RBI, BB, .284 AVG
• Ed Lucas SS 2-5, E (12), .263 AVG
• Donell Linares 3B 2-5, .272 AVG
• Jose Lugo 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K, W (3), 2.73 ERA

In his last 5 starts, Jose Lugo has only allowed 4 earned runs over 36 innings, good for a 1.00 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. In his last 10 games, Myke Jones is hitting .350 with a .469 OBP and a .919 OPS. Antoan Richardson was only a part time player this season, but in 326 plate appearances he's had a .429 OBP and 17 stolen bases.

The M-Braves are off on Wednesday, before heading to Zebulon, NC on Thursday to start their final series of the year against the Carolina Mudcats. Chris Cody will take the mound in the opener.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Potomac Nationals 5

• Andrelton Simmons DH 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 SB (23, 24), .306 AVG
• Ryan Query C 1-2, 2 RBI, .200 AVG
• Keenan Wiley RF 2-5, .281 AVG
• Marcus Lemon 2B 2-4, 2 2B, .269 AVG
• Chris Masters 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 6 BB, 2 K, 3.34 ERA
• Mark Lamm 3.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 3.42 ERA
  

Things got a little crazy in this one. In the 4th inning, P-Nats first baseman Steven Souza collided with Hillcats catcher Christian Bethancourt, knocking the ball loose and knocking Bethancourt unconsious for nearly a minute. Bethancourt was forced to leave the game, and his replacement, Shawn McGill had to leave the game in the 5th when he was hit in the head by P-Nats left fielder Francisco Soriano's backswing. Later in the inning, Chris Masters beaned Souza in retaliation for running down Bethancourt. The benches cleared, and when order was restored Masters and relievers Eliecer Cardenas and Ryan Buchter had been ejected from the game, though none of the Nationals players were thrown out. He likely earned points with his teammates, but Masters had a rough time on the mound, allowing 4 runs and walking 6 before he was ejected. Still, the soft tossing lefty leads the league in innings pitched with 148.1, and is third in strikeouts with 122. In August, Andrelton Simmons is hitting .336 with a .893 OPS, 11 doubles, 2 triples, a homer, 14 RBI, and 8 steals.

David Hale will face the P-Nats tomorrow.

Rome Braves 3, Kannapolis Intimidators 13

• Evan Gattis DH 1-3, 2B, BB, .322 AVG
• David Rohm RF 1-4, .281 AVG
• Robby Hefflinger LF 2-4, .264 AVG
• Ryan Delgado C 2-4, 2B, HR (1), 2 RBI, E (3), .250 AVG
• Ronan Pacheco 3.1 IP, 8 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 5.14 ERA

Evan Gattis was named to the South Atlantic League Post Season All-Star team, and he leads the league in batting average at .322, is second in slugging percentage (.601) and OPS (.986). In his last 10 games, David Rohm is hitting .421 with a 1.082 OPS. In his last 3 games, Robby Hefflinger is 5-11 with 2 doubles. Prior to the All-Star break, Ronan Pacheco had a 3.95 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP, but since the break he's struggled mightily, with a 7.01 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP.

Rome is off on Wednesday, before heading to Augusta on Thursday to start their final series of the season. Sean Gilmartin will start the opener.

Danville Braves 19, Bluefield Blue Jays 4

• Nick Ahmed SS 1-3, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, E (8), .262 AVG
• Will Skinner LF 4-6, 2 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI, .667 AVG
• Brandon Drury 3B 1-2, BB, .347 AVG
• Elmer Reyes 2B 3-5, 2B, RBI, .262 AVG
• Nick DeSantiago C 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, .214 AVG
• Ernesto Silva 6 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 K, W (5), 5.49 ERA

Danville made sure their season finale was a memorable one, scoring 19 runs on only 14 hits, working 7 walks. Brandon Drury finished his season by hitting in 18 straight games, going 31-78 with 9 doubles, a homer, 15 RBI, and 3 walks during the streak, which comes out to a slash line of .397/.420/.551/.971. After hitting .300 with a .854 OPS, 4 homers and 18 RBI in 80 at bats for the GCL, Will Skinner, the Braves 25th round selection in this year's draft, was promoted to Danville to help in the playoffs, and he had himself a heck of a debut, rapping out 4 hits, including a double and a homer. Ernesto Silva was terrible as a reliever this year, with a 14.54 ERA and a 2.31 WHIP in 4.1 innings, but the 19 year old Panamanian righty was much more promising as a starter, with a 4.75 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 53 innings.

Danville will start their playoff series against the Johnson City Cardinals on Wednesday at home, with the following 2 games of the series scheduled to take place in Johnson City. The Braves are 4-2 against the Cardinals this season, with all 6 of those games taking place in the last 2 weeks.