(23-21) Gwinnett Braves 4, (23-20) Buffalo Bisons 3
Johan Camargo, SS: 0-3, HBP, .311/.357/.478
Ozzie Albies, 2B: 0-4, .268/.314/.397
Dustin Peterson, LF,: 0-3, BB, .250/.368/.375
Patrick Weigel, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 7.71 ERA
Gwinnett was mostly held in check all game on the offensive end, only putting together 5 hits, but a big 4th inning capped by Carlos Franco’s 3 run home run provided a bulk of the offense and was enough for them to take home the win. Franco had struggled in his prior 4 games following his call up to AAA, so this was his first home run at AAA and 12th on the season, pushing him past his previous career high in just 46 games. Ozzie Albies was quiet at the plate with 2 ground outs to the right side of the infield, a fly out to center, and a line drive out to the let fielder. Johan Camargo’s 0-3 snapped his 8 game hitting streak which dated back to before his call up to Atlanta. While Dustin Peterson went 0-3 at the plate with a strikeout he was able to draw a walk and score on Carlos Franco’s home run. Peterson has reached safely in 4 of his first 5 games this season.
Patrick Weigel went 6 innings and only allowed 1 run in this game, which was a huge turnaround start for him after he got torched for 8 runs in his only inning of work last time out. While he did allow 3 walks on the day two of those came in the second inning alone. Weigel worked a clean frame in the first but outside of that had to work around baserunners in every inning he pitched, with 6 of those 8 reaching with 1 or fewer outs. David Peterson worked a rough start on the mound allowing 3 hits and 2 runs in his innings, but didn’t walk anybody and only threw 14 pitches in the inning. Mauricio Cabrera pitched the final 2 innings of the game and didn’t allow a baserunner. He worked with only 14 pitches over those 2 frames and threw 9 of those for strikes and had 5 consecutive ground outs to end the game.
Next Game: 5/25 vs (23-20) Buffalo Bisons @ 12:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
GWN: Lucas Sims (4-1, 3.00 ERA)
BUF: Brett Oberholtzer (0-2, 2.35 ERA)
Lucas Sims in day games this season is 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA, a 0.58 WHIP, and a .116 BAA.
(23-23) Mississippi Braves 2 (25-21) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 1
Travis Demeritte, 3B: 2-4, HR, .258/.333/.454
Jared James, LF: 0-4 .208/.281/.325
Ronald Acuna, CF: 2-4, HR, .312/.374/.524
Mike Soroka, SP: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, 2.96 ERA
Both starters in this game were magnificent after settling in, with all 3 runs coming in the first inning, so Mississippi’s ability to capitalize early was the key to slipping out with a victory in this one. The power came from the two likeliest sources on the field, with Ronald Acuna and Travis Demeritte going back-to-back in the first for their 6th and 7th home runs this season, respectively. Acuna has been on a tear with Mississippi hitting .364/.446/.618 since his callup, and the home runs he has been hitting have been no doubters. Travis Demeritte’s home run was his 6th of may alone, and he seems no enemy to Trustmark Park as he has 5 of his 7 home runs in his home ballpark and is hitting a staggering .364/.424/.649 there. The early drop in strikeouts for Demeritte has disappeared, but his surge in power to come with it have nicely covered any issues he has had. Acuna and Demeritte both had another hit in the game, making the first time both had multiple hits in the same game since May 15 after they had done so in 4 of the first 7 together.
Now on https://t.co/h5NSY7VuJN: #Braves No. 7 prospect Ronald Acuna crushes a long solo homer for @mbraves. https://t.co/gLbYn17IML
— MiLB.com (@MiLB) May 25, 2017
Pensacola starter Tyler Mahle was good in this game, but Mike Soroka was just so much better. Headlining with his career-best 10 strikeouts, Soroka dominated throughout allowing just 1 walk and 1 hit following his rough first inning. Soroka set down the side in order with strikeouts in the 5th and struck out the first two in the 6th, ending his night with a streak of 5 consecutive strikeouts. Coming into tonight Soroka had not struck out more than 7 batters in any other game this season, and he also touched 100 pitches for just the second time in his career. Soroka’s recent struggle recently has been with walks, relative to his norm at least, and he allowed a walk to the first batter of the game who ended up coming around to score Pensacola’s only run of the game. Jesse Biddle struggled getting only 2 outs and walking 3 batters in relief, but didn’t allow any runs in the game. After his tremendous early season implosions Evan Phillips has seen a run of success with a 3.29 ERA over his last 9 appearances and 4 consecutive scoreless outings. Jason Hursh closed it out with a perfect 1.1 innings with no strikeouts.
Next Game: 5/25 vs (25-21) Pensacola Blue Wahoos @ 8:00 PM ET
Probable Starters
MIS: Kolby Allard (4-1, 1.65 ERA)
PNS: Austin Ross (4-0, 1.37 ERA)
(25-20) Rome Braves 8, (18-26) Asheville Tourists 6
Cristian Pache, CF,: 2-5, RBI, Outfield Assist, .299/.353/.376
Brett Cumberland, DH: 1-5, HR, 3 RBI, .223/.432/.489
Anthony Concepcion, LF: 1-2, HR, 2 RBI, BB, HBP, SB, .211/.295/.325
Oriel Caicedo, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 2.98 ERA
Rome got runs early in this one, as each of the first 3 batters reached safely (one scoring) before Brett Cumberland’s 7th home run of the season gave Rome a 4-0 lead before an out have even been recorded. Anthony Concepcion’s home run tacked on 2 more in the 6th, and Rome seemed to be rolling up 6-1 in the game before a 5 run 7th by the Tourists left Rome in a tie game. Rome answered back in the next half inning with Marcus Mooney’s base hit giving them a lead and Matt Gonzalez’s base hit making in 8-6. Cristian Pache wasted no time in singling in a run on the first pitch he saw in the game, extending his hitting streak to 16 games. He is hitting .386/.434/.471 in that time. Brett Cumberland’s insane home run surge with a bomb estimated at 477 feet. He has hit 4 home runs in his last 5 games and 5 since the calendar turned to May. This month he is hitting .293/.500/.707 with a .304 BABIP. One interesting note for Cumberland, however, is that he only has hit 4 line drives this entire season for a 6.78% rate. For reference, he already has 10 pop ups this season and has hit 26 fly balls. Every player on Rome’s roster had at least one hit, and Matt Gonzalez and Kurt Hoekstra led the team with 3 apiece. All of Hoekstra’s were extra base hits-2 doubles and a triple.
Oriel Caicedo started this game on the mound, and while he didn’t strike out many batters (0 strikeouts, actually) the balls that were hit found gloves and he was able to work around the 3 walks and 3 hits he allowed. Caicedo left the game with a 6-1 lead intact, turning it over to Bladimir Matos who was shaky at best. Matos got through the 6th with only a two out single allowed, but could only get 1 out in the 7th before allowing a run and leaving the base loaded for Jon Kennedy. Kennedy allowed a bases-clearing triple to the first batter he faced and then a sacrifice fly to the next before he was able to get a strikeout and end the inning. Kennedy pitched the next two innings scoreless and got the win, though he was helped when Cristian Pache tracked down a fly ball and was able to double off a runner who drifted too far off of first base.
Next Game: 5/25 @ (13-28) Augusta GreenJackets 7:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
ROM: Ian Anderson (2-4, 4.37 ERA)
AUG: DJ Myers (1-4, 3.72 ERA)