Gwinnett Stays In The Hunt, Lucas Homers Again, And Simmons, Terdoslavich, And Rohm Stay Hot In Sunday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action

Gwinnett won to stay in the IL playoff hunt, Ed Lucas hit his 4th homer in 4 days, Andrelton Simmons and Joey Terdoslavich continued to rack up impressive numbers, David Rohm had a 4 hit day, and Aaron Northcraft's final start of the year was one of his best of the year.

Gwinnett Braves 6, Charlotte Knights 5

• Matt Young LF 2-5, .273 AVG
• Mauro Gomez 1B 2-4, RBI, .304 AVG
• Wilkin Ramirez RF 3-3, 2B, RBI, SB (19), .267 AVG
• Brandon Hicks SS 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, .252 AVG
• Wil Nieves C 2-3, .282 AVG
• Yohan Flande 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 7 K, 4.01 ERA
• Billy Bullock 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1), 0.00 ERA
• Jairo Asencio 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (26), 1.81 ERA

Mauro Gomez had another multi hit game, and he's gone 8-13 in his last 4 games, and in his last 10 he's hit .576 with a 1.610 OPS. Matt Young had a 2 hit day, and in his last 5 games, hes gone 8-19 with a double, a RBI, and 2 walks. Wilkin Ramirez had a 3 hit day and stole a base, and since the All-Star break he's hit .308 with a .816 OPS, 4 homers, 15 RBI, and 11 steals. Brandon Hicks had 2 hits, including a double, and a walk, snapping a 4 game slump that had seen him go 0-14 while striking out 6 times. Billy Bullock picked up a win in his first AAA apperance, and Jairo Asencio picked up his league leading 26th save.

Lehigh Valley also won their game, so the G-Braves remain in a tie for the Wild Card. Erik Cordier will take the mound tomorrow in the must-win season finale.

Mississippi Braves 8, Carolina Mudcats 7

• Ed Lucas SS 2-4, 2B, HR (7), 4 RBI, .271 AVG
• Cory Harrilchak RF 1-4, HR (7), RBI, .265 AVG
• Jordan Kreke 2B 2-3, 2B, HR (3), RBI, BB, .220 AVG
• Aaron Schafer 7.1 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 9 K, W (3), 4.67 ERA
• Benino Pruneda 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 B, 1 K, SV (11), 3.50 ERA

Ed Lucas' 7th inning grand slam extended a homer binge that has seen him hit 4 in his last 4 games. He has a 6 game hitting streak, going 9-26 with a double, 4 homers, and 11 RBI in that span. Jordan Kreke had a pair of hits, including a double and his 3rd homer of the year. He has a 5 game hitting streak, going 7-21 with 2 doubles, a homer, 5 RBI, and 3 walks in those games. Aaron Shafer had a little bit of everything in this one, allowing 5 runs on 9 hits, while only walking 1 and striking out 9 over 7.1 innings. He finishes his season with a 6-5 record, a 3.70 ERA and a 1.38 ERA in 109.1 innings between Lynchburg and Mississippi. Benino Pruneda picked up his 11th save of the year in a perfect 9th inning. The 22 year old, listed at a generous 5'9", 170 pounds, can push his fastball over 100mph, and he's used it to effect this year, with a 9.9 K/9 rate. Of course, with heat comes trouble, as he's also posted a 5.6 BB/9 rate this season.

Chris Masters will make his AA debut in the season finale tomorrow afternoon.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Winston-Salem Dash 5

• Andrelton Simmons SS 3-4, 2B, SB (26), .310 AVG
• Joey Terdoslavich 1B 2-3, HR (20), 3 RBI, BB, .285 AVG
• Keenan Wiley RF 1-3, HR (1), RBI, OF Assist, .285 AVG
• Matt Talley 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 5.06 ERA
• Ryan Buchter 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 3.67 ERA

Joey Terdoslavich hit his 20th homer of the season, putting him in the rare 50 double-20 homer club. In his last 2 games he's 4-7 with a double, 2 homers, and 5 RBI. Andrelton Simmons had a 3 hit day that included his 35th double of the year, and in his last 4 games he's gone 7-16 with 2 doubles. His .310 average is 18 points higher than that next closest hitter in the league. Keenan Wiley hit his first homer in 135 games as a professional, extending his hitting streak to 6 games. During that span, he's gone 8-21 with 3 RBI. Matt Talley made his Lynchburg debut, and held his own, allowing 3 runs over 5.1 innings. The 6'6" 22 year old lefty was drafted in the 28th round this year, and he finishes the season with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP in 49 innings between the GCL, Danville, and Lynchburg, with 42.2 of those innings coming in the GCL.

David Hale will get the start tomorrow afternoon in the season finale.

Rome Braves 6, Augusta GreenJackets 1

• Matt Lipka SS 1-4, 2 RBI, .244 AVG
• Tommy La Stella 2B 2-4, 2B, BB, .328 AVG
• David Rohm RF 4-5, 2B, .287 AVG
• Troy Snitker C 2-5, 2B, .222 AVG
• Aaron Northcraft 7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 K, W (7), 3.34 ERA
• Carlos Perez 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 4.82 ERA

David Rohm had a 4 hit day, extending his hitting streak to 7 games. During that span, he's gone 15-34 with 3 doubles, a homer, and 3 RBI. Since August 1st, the 21 year old is hitting .364 with a .938 OPS in 129 at bats. Matt Lipka extended his hitting streak to 6 games, and he's gone 11-28 with 3 doubles, 3 RBI, 2 walks, and 3 SB in that span, and has pushed his season OPS over .600 for the first time since early May. Tommy La Stella has a 5 game hitting streak, and in that span he's gone 9-23 with 2 doubles, a homer, 6 RBI, and 4 walks. Aaron Northcraft had a fantastic start, striking out 9 while only allowing 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run in 7 innings. Over his last 3 starts he had a 1.80 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in 20 innings. The 21 year old righty finishes the year with a 7-8 record, a 3.34 ERA, and a 1.31 WHIP in 113.1 innings. Carlos Perez pitched 2 scoreless innings to put a nice finish on a rough season. The 19 year old had a 4-10 record, a 4.82 ERA, and a 1.63 WHIP in 125 innings. Still, it would be foolish to bet against the talented lefty, who is likely to have a big season next year with Lynchburg.

Ronan Pacheco will start the season finale tomorrow.