Gwinnett Braves 5, Durham Bulls 2
- Omar Infante, 2B: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, .215/.235/.323
- Rio Ruiz, 3B: 2-5, 2B, run, .268/.352/.375
- Matt Wisler, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Matt Wisler was impressive over 6 innings and Omar Infante turned back the clock to have a big night offensively as Gwinnett beat Durham 5-2. In Wisler’s second start since being sent back down to AAA, there were encouraging signs, in particular the strikeout numbers. However, he also gave up a homer for the second straight game and his problems with the long ball in the majors are fairly well documented. He will have to keep the ball in the park and continue to miss bats consistently if he is going to stick as part of the Braves rotation going forward. Jason Hursh had his third straight scoreless appearance in AAA and appears to be positioning himself as a decent bullpen option in the not to distant future.
On offense, Omar Infante drove in 3 runs for Gwinnett including a solo homer to get things started in the first inning. Rio Ruiz has struggled to produce consistently of late, but had a nice game with a pair of hits. He has hit .244/.308/.341 since the All-Star break but if he can string together a good August could put together a fantastic bounce-back season for him. Blake Lalli added a couple hits and an RBI and, despite the team going 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position, Gwinnett was able to scatter enough production to secure a win.
Mississippi Braves 3, Mobile BayBears 2
- Dustin Peterson, LF: 1-2, 2B, 2 BB, run, .297/.356/.450
- Dansby Swanson, SS: 1-5, .263/.337/.406
- Wes Parsons, SP: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
This game was closer than it should have been, but the pitching staff held things down and the offense did just enough damage to hold off Mobile 3-2. Wes Parsons has been recovering from injury for most of the year and the Braves decided to move him up to Double-A and see him against more advanced hitters as a starter. So far, so good as he pitched 4 scoreless innings. The bullpen gave up a pair of runs, but also struck out 8 batters over 5 innings to keep Mississippi out in front for good.
On offense, how about Dustin Peterson? I will freely admit to being vocal about my concerns regarding Peterson’s second half production in previous seasons, but my goodness has he shut me up. After slashing a fine line of .284/.350/.437 in the first half, Peterson has turned things up a notch with .318/.366/.471 in the second half so far and has shown no signs of slowing down. His approach at the plate has improved tremendously this year and seems to be picking better pitches to drive while improving against lefties. His career high BABIP of .339 suggests that he has been a little bit lucky, but not so much that his production isn’t sustainable. Dansby and Ozzie both added hits in the game while Carlos Franco and Jacob Schrader both drove in runs for Mississippi. You would think that with 14 hits and 5 walks, Mississippi would have had a bigger night on offense, but going 3 for 12 with runners in scoring position is less than ideal.
Carolina Mudcats 0, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 6
- Tanner Murphy, C: 3-4, 2B, .198/.301/.306
- Braxton Davidson, RF: 0-3, BB, .226/.342/.379
- Matt Withrow, SP: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 7 K, 4.45 ERA
Rough night down in Carolina as the offense could not get anything going and the pitching staff could not keep Myrtle Beach down as the Mudcats fell 6-0. Matt Withrow got the start and continue his struggles with finding the strike zone. He has 15 walks in his past 4 appearances (13.1 innings) and his problems with free passes have him pitching in trouble and running his pitch counts up. Raymar Navarro had a forgettable outing out of the bullpen with 4 hits and 4 earned runs in just an inning of work.
As for the offense, well...there was very little of it. Despite outhitting Myrtle Beach 8-6, a couple double plays and the inability to put the ball in play with runners on hurt Carolina mightily. Tanner Murphy had a good night with three hits, but the three hitters in front of him went a combined 0-11 which is less than ideal. Travis Demeritte had some chances with runners on, but went 0-4 to continue his rough start to his career in Atlanta. In the ten games since joining the Mudcats (small sample size alert), he is hitting .132 with 5 hits, 3 RBIs, 4 walks, and 17 strikeouts.
Rome Braves 9, Columbia Fireflies 7
- Jared James, LF: 4-4, HR, 4 RBI, 3 runs
- Austin Riley, 3B: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .256/.307/.419
- Touki Toussaint, SP: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 5 K, 4.35 ERA
Touki Toussaint was mostly excellent for Rome and the offense exploded for 9 runs as the Braves held off Columbia to win 9-7. The good news was that Touki had himself a pretty good night going nearly 6 innings and giving up just the one earned run while striking out 5. The bad news was that his 6th inning was marred by the complete absence of command of his pitches. In order, the inning went HBP, wild pitch, wild pitch, fielding error by Riley, sac bunt, single, double, wild pitch, walk, and then pitching change. Over the next 3 innings, the bullpen would give up 4 runs before securing the win.
On offense, there was good news as well as a bit of bad. Austin Riley got in on the fun with his 31st double of the year, which is good. However, he also had two errors in the game to bring his total up to 25 on the season, which is not good. In other news, Jared James has been a revelation so far as a 34th round pick out of Long Beach State. James was promoted after slashing .298/.379/.364 down in Danville. In the two games he has played at Rome since being promoted, he has now homered twice, has six RBIs, and went a perfect 4-4 on this night. Carlos Castro had a big night on offense as well with a double and triple while driving in 3 runs. After really struggling to make consistent contact in the first half, Castro is slashing a very respectable .277/.320/.496 in the second half as he continues how to get the most out of his aggressive approach and significant raw power.
Danville Braves - Postponed
Rain sucks again