(26-34) Gwinnett Braves 3, (32-27) Lehigh Valley IronPigs 1
Erick Aybar, SS: 1-4, 2B, RBI, .190/.261/.238
Rio Ruiz, 3B: 0-4, .253/.348/.365
Ozzie Albies, 2B: 1-4, SB, .241/.284/.366
Shae Simmons, SP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 0.00 ERA
It took 8 games, but finally Gwinnett got a win, 3-1 over the IronPigs. They scored all 3 runs in the first inning, with back to back to back doubles from Erick Aybar, Emilio Bonifacio, and Matt Tuiasosopo plating the first 2. Reid Brignac drove in the final run with a 2 out single, scoring Tuiasosopo. Tuiasosopo had a great day at the plate with 3 doubles in 4 at bats. The offense struggled for much of the game, but Ozzie Albies had a base hit on the day.
Shae Simmons started this game as his 5th rehab assignment of the season, and pitched another scoreless inning. He walked one batter and didn’t strike out any, and in 5 games this season he has struck out 9 and walked 5 in 5 innings pitched. Joel De La Cruz slid in behind him and pitched a nice game, earning his first win of the season with 5 scoreless innings pitched. Stephen Janas, recently called up from Mississippi, pitched 2 innings and allowed the only run of the game for the IronPigs on a home run. That was Janas’s first run allowed since May 19, and his 3rd since April 19. Impressively, Janas was able to retire Will Venable (career .314/.362/.516 hitter vs the Braves) to end his outing.
Next Game: 6/9 at (30-26) Lehigh Valley IronPugs @ 12:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
GWN: TBD
LHV: David Buchanan (3-4, 4.96 ERA)
(25-30) Mississippi Braves 6, (25-31) Tennessee Smokies 11
Dansby Swanson, SS: 0-4, .269/.351/.425
Dustin Peterson, LF: 1-4, 2B, .265/.328/.411
Johan Camargo, 2B: 0-3, .233/.286/.323
Sean Newcomb, SP: 5 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 3.63 ERA
Dansby Swanson made his return to the lineup today, but struggled to an 0-4 performance with a strikeout. Dustin Peterson has hit safely in 4 straight games now, and 6 of the last 7, with his double today. Despite being one of the youngest players in the league, Peterson had career bests this season in K rate, HR rate, LD rate, average, OBP, Slugging, WRC+, ISO, and K/BB. Mel Rojas Jr. had the only multi hit game with 2 singles, but the rest of the MBraves lineup struggled to produce anything.
Sean Newcomb pitched a better game than the line would indicate, striking out 5 and walking none in his 5 innings. Yes, he allowed 10 hits, but amongst those were:
Ground ball to SS
Soft Fly Ball to CF
Soft Line Drive to LF
Ground Ball to SS
Ground ball to CF
I sense a bit of bad luck for Newcomb. Jed Bradley bounced bacl from a rough previous outing with 3 innings and only 1 run allowed. Jason Hursh pitched a scoreless inning as well, with a strikeout. This season roughly ⅔ of the balls in play against Hursh have been ground balls, including all 3 tonight. Live and die by the infield defense.
Next Game: 6/6 vs (26-33) Tennessee Smokies @ 8:00 PM ET
Probable Starters
MIS: Rob Whalen (4-4, 2.88 ERA)
TNS: TBD
(23-35) Rome Braves 3, (34-23) Charleston RiverDogs 2 F/11
Luke Dykstra, 2B: 3-5, RBI, .327/.364/.381
Jonathan Morales, C: 1-5, .267/.316/.356
Justin Ellison, RF: 1-3, RBI, 2 BB, .216/.273/.327
Mike Soroka, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 2.59 ERA
Rome had to fight back from a 2-0 deficit early, and did so with a 2 run 5th inning. Carlos Castro led off the inning with his 3rd home run of the season, and was followed by a Leudys Baez hit by pitch. Yeudi Grullon and Ray-Patrick moved him over to third, and Luke Dykstra came through with a 2 out single to score Baez. 5 more innings passed scoreless, but in the 11th Rome broke through with a walk off single from Justin Ellison to score Bradley Keller. Carlos Castro only has 10 hits in his 51 plate appearances as a Braves, but with 3 home runs, 2 doubles, and a triple has a .451 slugging percentage.
The pitching earned today’s win, and in a game started by Mike Soroka you figured scoring would be low. Soroka allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, in his 5 innings of work, keeping to his usually great pereipherals. Bladimir Matos pitched 2 scoreless innings, and has not allowed a run in his 3 June innings. After a 0.90 ERA in April, he had a 10.13 ERA in Ma, so maybe he’s kind of an every other month guy. Josh Graham pitched 2 fantastic innings, allowing only 1 runner to reach by hitting with a pitch and striking out 3. Matt Custred earned the win with his 2 scoreless innings, and has a 0.96 ERA with 25 K and 1 BB in 18.2 IP since the end of April.
Next Game: 6/9 at (31-28) Greensboro Grasshoppers 7:00 PM ET
Probable Starters
ROM: Patrick Weigel (3-3, 3.03 ERA)
GBO: Jordan Holloway (2-2, 5.73 ERA)