Gwinnett Braves (30-30) 8 vs. Indianapolis Indians (39-24) 7

Box Score

• Jose Peraza, CF: 2-5, 1 RBI, SB (17), .284/.323/..354
• Ryan Lavarnway, C: 2-5, 1 2B, 3 RBI, .289/.400/.500
• Daniel Castro, SS: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, .333/.370/..369
• Matt Wisler, SP: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 0 Ks, 4.29 ERA
• Joey Terdoslavich, 1B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, .375 avg

Gwinnett held off the Shuckers after establishing an 8-0 lead in the second inning to win a close one, 8-7. This was not a banner performance for Matt Wisler and was arguably his worst start of the year. He was rumored to have been on the verge of a call-up had the Braves needed to use Alex Wood out of the 'pen during one of the bullpen's more recent disasters. While this is certainly a hiccup, he has been excellent most of the year and sometimes you just don't have it. Jose Peraza had a good game, getting on base and scoring twice while also getting his 17th stolen base of the year. Very quietly, Ryan Lavarnway has had a very productive start to his minors career in Atlanta. He always seems to be in the thick of the offense during keys points in the game and this one is no different as his 3 early RBI helped build the lead that, as it turns out, Gwinnett would desperately need. Overall the line-up combined for 15 hits with 6 players getting multi-hit games. Out of the bullpen, the "other" David Carpenter continued his excellent work, posted a perfect frame to lower his season ERA to 0.70.

Biloxi Shuckers (37-24) 10 vs. Mississippi Braves (32-28) 2

Box Score

• Mallex Smith, CF: 1-4, 1 run, SB (20), .348/.426/.422
• Rio Ruiz, 3B: 1-2, 2 BB, .213/.340/.268
• Levi Hyams, 2B: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, .242/.331/.347
• Greg Ross, SP: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4 Ks, 5.86 ERA

There wasn't much to like for Braves' fans here. This was a close game until the Shuckers posted a 6 run 5th inning and the Braves could never muster much offense after that. Greg Ross had his second straight rough start and has failed to reproduce the success he had found earlier in his career in the minors. Mallex Smith kept doing Mallex Smith things, getting a hit and walk and stealing his 20th base of the year. The kid is good. Rio Ruiz has really been turning things around of late as he reached base 3 times in this game and has his average approaching respectability. Of note is his on-base percentage which is at a respectable .340, especially when you consider how low his average was/is. If he continues to improve, he could prove to be the future for the Braves' at the hot corner that we had hoped. The bullpen wasn't much better than Ross as they gave up 3 runs in with only Francisco Rondon posting a good result out of them. Matt Lipka continues to struggle with inconsistency and he is in one of his dips in production, getting 3 hits in his last 6 games...all singles.

Winston-Salem Dash (25-35) 2 vs. Carolina Mudcats (30-30) 8

Box Score

• Sean Godfrey, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 runs, 1 outfield assist, .314/.341/.422
• Keith Curcio, 2B: 2-3, 1 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI, .298/.373/.413
• Dustin Peterson, LF: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, .304/.381/.473
• Brandon Barker, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 Ks, 2.86 ERA
• Connor Lien, CF: 1-4, 1 3B, 1 RBI, .314/.355/.465

On the flip side, the Mudcats demolished the Dash with yet another strong offense performance. This time the offense was backed by a strong outing from Brandon Barker, who has been quite good since his promotion from Rome in late May. He doesn't strike out a ton of guys, but batters seem to take bad swings against him and he is getting better and better at inducing weak contact. However, the real stars of the show were the offense, led again by the top of the order. Sean Godfrey is raking right now as he has a 12 game hitting streak going and has yet to make an error in the field in his minor league career despite playing all three outfield positions with some amount of regularity. Dustin Peterson continues to be excellent since his return from the DL and Keith Curcio, a man not exactly known for his power, ran in to one. Keith had a rough start to his promotion to Carolina, but has really done well lately, going 10 for his last 14. The offense was very efficient in this game as they had 8 hits, 0 walks, and still scored 8 runs which isn't exactly the norm. Matt Marksberry pitched well in relief with 3 scoreless innings while striking out 4.

Rome Braves (27-34) 8 vs. Greenville Drive (34-27) 10

Box Score

• Ozhaino Albies, SS: 0-5, snaps 16 game hitting streak, .314/.372/.401
• Tanner Krietemeier, 1B: 3-4, 1 2B, 2 runs, .259/.319/.347
• Braxton Davidson, RF: 2-3, HR (5), 2 RBI, BB, .267/.403/.390
• Joseph Daris, LF: 2-4, HR (3), 3 RBI, .286/.341/.452
• Alex Grosser, SP: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 7 runs ( 6 ER), 4 BB, 1 K, 4.88 ERA

Another frustrating game as the Braves were put in a 7-2 hole early thanks to an abysmal outing from Alec Grosser. Alec has often flirted with disaster with a 1.56 WHIP and a high walk rate, and tonight it caught up with him. He walked 4 batters and gave up 7 runs (6 earned) before he recorded the 2nd out in the second inning. Before this start, he had done quite well and if he can figure out how to consistently hit the strike zone, he should be just fine. Sadly, Ozhaino Albies' reign of terror is momentarily on hold as he was held hitless against the Drive, breaking his 16 game hitting streak. On the upside, Braxton Davidson looks like he is starting to figure things out at the plate as he hit his 5th home run while reaching base 3 times in this game. He currently has his own hitting streak (8 games) and is enjoy a very good month of June as a whole. Joining Braxton in the home run club was Joseph Daris who continues to produce, although not quite at the levels he was last month. Tanner Krietemeier had a nice game as well with 3 hits while scoring 2 runs out of the clean-up spot. In addition to giving up 6 walks, defensive miscues by Daris and Jordan Edgerton (his 15th of the year) hurt the Braves. The bullpen also had troubles here, giving up 3 runs in 6.2 innings. Give a gold star to Dustin Emmons though, as he did pitch a scoreless ninth for the lone good pitching performance of the night.

Dominican Summer League Bonus!

Current record: 3-8

For you real diehards, we're going to include a little bit of bonus coverage of the Dominican Summer League. First, the bad: the team itself is not very good and this is primarily due to the pitching which currently sports a 6.14 ERA. As of right now, no pitcher has performed well enough for long enough to warrant mention yet. However, as for the good, on offense there is someone that jumps off the page and that his Randy Ventura. He is currently batting .375 (every hit a single) with a .444 OBP. This wouldn't necessarily be especially noteworthy except that he has also stolen 14 bases in 11 games. Just 17 years old and obviously possessing quite a bit of speed, Randy is definitely one to watch in the Dominican Summer League.