Gwinnett Braves - Postponed
Rain sucks
Next Game: 5/24 Doubleheader at Norfolk @ 5:05 PM
Probable Starters: Gwinnett - Tyrell Jenkins and John Gant, Norfolk - David Hale and Andy Oliver
Missississippi Braves 4, Mobile BayBears 3
- Dansby Swanson, SS: 1-5, .301/.381/.484
- Dustin Peterson, LF: 1-3, 2 BB, .262/.335/.435
- Levi Hyams, 1B: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, .172/.213/.379
- Michael O'Neal, SP: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Mississippi used a strong effort from Michael O'Neal and the pitching staff in combination with a big 3-run homer from Levi Hyams to take down Mobile 4-3. This was supposed to be Brandon Barker's turn in the rotation but he was sent with Trevor Belicek to Baltimore for Brian Matusz and (more importantly) the 76th overall pick in the draft. We wish him the best. Michael O'Neal filled in admirably with a spot start and while Victor Mateo kept things a little more interesting than they needed to be with a pair of homers allowed and 3 runs (two earned) during his watch, the rest of the bullpen held strong and secured the win.
On offense, there was little going on other than Hyams' bomb that was responsible for most of Mississippi's run output. Mississippi had just 6 hits on the evening, including one of each from prospects Dansby ("I have a 10 game streak") Swanson and Dustin Peterson, but they strung a couple baserunners together at the right time for Hyams who hit his 3rd homer of the year. Beyond that though, the team was just 1 for 7 with RISP but Mississippi pulled it out nonetheless.
Next Game: 5/25 hosting Jacksonville @ 7:00 CST PM
Probable Starters: Jacksonville - Jake Esch, Mississippi - Andrew Thurman
Carolina Mudcats - Postponed
Rain still sucks
Next Game: 5/24 hosting Myrtle Beach @ 7:00 PM
Probable Starters: Myrtle Beach - Trevor Clifton, Carolina - Enderson Franco
Rome Braves 3, Hickory Crawdads 2
- Austin Riley, 3B: 2-5, 2B, RBI, run, 3 K, .247/.296/.396
- Alejandro Salazar, SS: 2-5, 2B, run, .256/.279/.279
- Patrick Weigel, SP: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 2 runs (1 ER), 3 BB, 8 K, 3.04 ERA
Patrick Weigel had a very strong start to carry Rome (with a little help from the lineup) to a 3-2 victory over Hickory. Weigel has been extraordinarily consistent this season as he has gone at least 5 innings in all but one of his starts and has given up 2 earned runs or less in all but one as well. He is issuing a few too many free passes, but he is also striking out a batter per inning so he is definitely an interesting pitcher to watch develop going forward. Grayson Jones and Josh Graham combined for 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to secure the win.
On offense, the lineup used some small ball and timely hitting to scratch together enough runs to get the job done. The only extra-base hits of the night were doubles from Alejandro Salazar and Austin Riley (his 14th of the year), but Rome outhit Hickory 10-4 and managed to bring enough of those baserunners home with RBIs from Leudys Baez, Austin Riley's aforementioned double, and Austin Riley scrambling home on a wild pitch. While striking out 3 times is less than ideal, Austin also has 3 multi-hit games in his last 4 games. Justin Ellison also got a hit and extended his hitting streak to 5 games to help move past what was a very difficult beginning of the season for him.
Next Game: 5/24 at Hickory at 6:00 PM
Probable Starters: Rome - Max Fried, Hickory - Jonathan Hernandez