The Lynchburg Hillcats won the first half division title, and they will begin their playoff run Wednesday in Wilmington when they face the Blue Rocks in Game 1 of the first round. The Rome Braves won the second half division title, and they will also begin their first round playoffs on Wednesday, at home against the Asheville Tourists. Andrelton Simmons will join Rome for that game for a rehab appearance.
Gwinnett Braves 7, Norfolk Tides 1, 8 innings
- Felix Pie RF 2-4, 2B, HR (6), 2 RBI, .283 AVG
- Ernesto Mejia 1B 2-4, SB (10), .298 AVG
- Ruben Gotay 3B 2-3, RBI, BB, .243 AVG
- Brian Friday SS 2-3, 2 2B, RBI, .215 AVG
- Jair Jurrjens 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 , 0 BB, 4 K, W (4), 4.98 ERA
- Andrew Russell 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (2), 1.75 ERA
Persistent rain forced this game to be called official in the middle of the 8th. Jair Jurrjens made a rehab start and pitched well, allowing 1 earned run over 5 innings, walking none and striking out 4. In his last 2 rehab starts, he has allowed 5 earned runs in 4 innings. He finishes his AAA season with a 4-6 record, a 4.98 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP, 4.9 K/9, 2 BB/9, and 2.4 K/BB in 72.1 innings over 14 starts with Gwinnett. Andy Russell picked up his second save of the season, and in 64 innings over 54 appearances with Gwinnett and Mississippi, the 28 year old sidearming righty has a 2.11 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. In his last 3 games, Felix Pie has gone 4-11 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI. Ernesto Mejia has a 2 hit day, but he's struggled in his last 10 games, hitting .171 with a .416 OPS. Ruben Gotay has been hot in his last 10, hitting .323 with a .836 OPS, a homer, and 5 RBI in that span.
Sean Gilmartin will start Gwinnett's season finale Monday in Norfolk.
Mississippi Braves 8, Mobile Bay Bears 5
- Todd Cunningham CF 1-2, 2B, 3 BB, .312 AVG
- Keenan Wiley RF 3-5, RBI, .236 AVG
- Joey Terdoslavich 1B 1-4, 2 RBI, SF, .313 AVG
- Evan Gattis C 1-5, HR (8), 2 RBI, .253 AVG
- Phil Gosselin 2B 2-5, .243 AVG
- Alden Carrithers 3B 2-5, SB (9), .317 AVG
- Jason Christian SS 2-3, BB, E (15), .221 AVG
- JR Graham 5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 3.18 ERA
- Mark Lamm 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K, W (2), 3.92 ERA
- Brent Leach 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 2.81 ERA
- Cory Rasmus 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (7), 3.68 ERA
JR Graham allowed 3 earned runs in 5 innings, striking out 5, in his final start of the season. He had an outstanding first full season, finishing with a 12-2 record, a 2.80 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 2 BB/9, and 3.3 K/BB in 148 innings over 25 starts between Lynchburg and Mississippi. Brent Leach hasn't allowed an earned run 5.1 innings over his last 4 appearances. Cory Rasmus picked up his third save in his last 4 appearances, and since the start of August, he has a 1.93 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, and 15 strikeouts in 14 innings over 12 appearances. Joey Terdoslavich drove in a pair of runs, and extended his hitting streak to 7 games, going 9-24 with a double, a homer, and 5 RBI in that stretch. Evan Gattis homered for the second straight night, and he's gone 2-7 with 4 RBI and a walk in those 2 games. Todd Cunningham doubled and walked 3 times, and in his last 10 games he's hitting .351 with a .872 OPS, 2 doubles, 2 RBI, 8 runs scored, and 6 steals. Alden Carrithers had his third straight 2 hit game, going 6-10 with a walk in that span.Keenan Wiley snapped a 0-21 skid over his last 7 games with a 3 hit day.
Gary Moran will start Mississippi's season finale on Monday against Mobile.
Lynchburg Hillcats 8, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3
- Myke Jones CF 2-4, 2B, SB (22), .256 AVG
- Nick Ahmed SS 2-5, SB (40), .266 AVG
- Edward Salcedo 3B 3-4, HR (17), RBI, SB (23), .240 AVG
- Braeden Schlehuber C 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .270 AVG
- David Rohm RF 1-3, RBI, SAC, .238 AVG
- Aaron Northcraft 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K, W (10), 3.98 ERA
- ian Marshall 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 5.34 ERA
- Juan Jaime 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 3.16 ERA
- John Cornely 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
Nick Ahmed had a 2 hit day and picked up his 40th stolen base of the season. He extended his hitting streak to 8 games, and during that span, he's gone 11-30 with a double, a RBI, 3 walks, 6 runs scored, and 3 steals. Myke Jones also had 2 hits and a steal, and in his last 10 games, he's hitting .289 with a .831 OPS, 4 doubles, a homer, 3 RBI, and 4 steals. Edward Salcedo had a 3 hit day that included his 17t homer of the year and his 23nd stolen base. He's gone 4-8 in his last 2 games after going 3-29 with 11 strikeouts in his previous 8 games. Braeden Schlehuber had a 2 hit day, and after a fist half that saw him hit .313 with a .924 OPS, 8 doubles, 8 homers, and 27 RBI in 144 at bats, he's struggled in the second half, hitting .228 with a .611 OPS, 9 doubles, 3 triples, and 15 RBI in 145 at bats. David Rohm has gone 3-7 in his last 2 games. Aaron Northcraft turned in a quality start, allowing 3 earned runs in 6 innings. The 22 year old righty finishes his season, which included a 7 inning no-hitter, with a 10-11 record, a 3.98 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP, 9.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, and 3 K/BB in 151.2 innings over 27 starts. His 160 strikeouts currently lead the league with teammate Gus Schlosser coming in at second with 139 whiffs. In 51.1 innings, Juan Jaime has struck out 73 batters, a 12.8 K/9 rate. John Cornely has struck out 13 in 7.1 innings over 4 appearances since joining the Hillcats.
Dimasther Delgado will start the season finale tomorrow against the Pelicans.
Rome Braves - Cancelled, Rain
The R-Braves Lexington Legends couldn't play due to rainy conditions, and the teams decided to cancel the game instead of playing a doubleheader tomorrow. Fabian Williamson will start the season finale tomorrow afternoon against the Legends.