Gwinnett Braves 8, Durham Bulls 9 - F/10
- Ozzie Albies, SS: 0-5, BB, RBI, run, .223/.261/.338
- Blake Lalli, C: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 runs, .201/.239/.239
- Reid Brignac, RP: 0.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB
Gwinnett rallied from being down 8-3, but could not secure the victory once they had to dip in to the position player ranks for the bullpen and fell in extras 9-8. There was little in the way of good news on the pitching front as the game started with Joel De La Cruz and Bradley Roney combining to throw 4.1 innings while allowing 8 runs, 7 hits, 6 walks, and getting just two strikeouts. Rob Wooten, Jose Ramirez, and Dario Alvarez restored order for 4.2 innings, but in the 11th inning, Gwinnett's bullpen was completely used up so they went to position player Reid Brignac who failed to record an out an Durham walked off.
On offense, there was plenty of production as 4 players in the lineup had multi-hit games. Gwinnett had to get runs the hard way though as only 2 of their 10 hits went for extra bases and only went 3 for 15 with RISP, but they did manage to rally to score 8 runs in the game. Ozzie Albies contributed with an RBI and a run, but went hitless in the game. He currently sports a .273 BABIP in AAA which is a good 80 points below his next worst season BABIP-wise, but his strikeout and walk rates are also at career worsts which compounds the problem. As his BABIP heads back to normalcy, he will still need to make adjustments to how he is being pitched to, especially against righties who he is hitting an uncharacteristic .205 against in AAA. Erick Aybar reached base 3 times with 2 walks and a hit while stealing two bases, which is pretty shocking if you have watched his play in Atlanta over the last couple of months. Rio Ruiz has not played since 5/30 and Garrett was present for a game where he noticed that the trainers were spending a lot of time getting him stretched out. He is still listed as active and hopefully the rest will bring back the mojo he had at the beginning of the season.
Next Game: 6/5 at Durham @ 5:05 PM
Probable Starters: Gwinnett - Lucas Sims, Durham - Blake Snell
Mississippi Braves, Biloxi Shuckers - Cancelled
Grounds were too wet to play, so no baseball :(
Next Game: 6/5 hosting Tennessee @ 5:00 PM CST
Probable Starters: Mississippi - Victor Mateo, Tennessee - Stephen Perakslis
Carolina Mudcats 4, Frederick Keys 5 - F/11
- Joey Meneses, 1B: 0-4, BB, run, .299/.369/.424
- Reed Harper, SS: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, .226/.252/.281
- Enderson Franco, SP: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 4.97 ERA
The other game that actually happened last night also went to extras and the Braves affiliate fell in this one as well as Carolina fell 5-4 in 11 innings. Enderson Franco pitched a perfectly fine start as he went 6 innings while allowing 3 runs. Again, if you remove his first start of the season he has been quite consistent as a starter for the Mudcats and while he doesn't have overpowering stuff, he does seem to have a feel for pitching and if he can consistently keep the ball down and find the strike zone, he will find success. Unfortunately, Taylor Lewis gave up an unearned run which ultimately allowed the game to go to extras where Carlos Salazar failed to record an out and Frederick walked off.
On offense, the bulk of the work was done by Reed Harper who reached base 3 times and drove in two runs. The 1-4 hitters (Gaylor, Curcio, Odom, and Meneses) all scored in the top of the 9th inning to rally and tie the game, but the rest of the lineup was held in check for the majority of the game. Joey Meneses is now hitless in 3 straight games not long after he was one of the hottest hitters in the system.
Next Game: 6/5 at Frederick @ 2 PM
Probable Starters: Carolina - Raymar Navarro, Frederick - Mitch Horacek
Rome Braves - Cancelled
Rain stinks
Next Game: 6/6 hosting Charleston @ 7:00 PM
Probable Starters: Charleston - Luis Cedeno, Rome - Ricardo Sanchez