(38-35) Gwinnett Braves 5, (31-44) Norfolk Tides 3
Rio Ruiz, 3B: 3-3, BB, .272/.316/.449
Ozzie Albies, 2B: 2-4, HR, RBI, .277/.327/.432
Dustin Peterson, LF,: 1-4, .248/.324/.312
Andrew Albers, SP: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 3.45 ERA
Gwinnett rode the long ball to a win, with all fives runs scored coming via home runs. The Braves took their first lead of the game in the second inning when Xavier Avery homered to score David Freitas. Ozzie Albies followed him with his fifth home run of the season for Gwinnett’s second set of back-to-back home runs on the season. Avery came through again in the sixth inning with another two run home run that broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Braves the lead they wouldn’t give back.
Albies also had a single in the game and extended his on-base streak to 22 games. In that span he is hitting .293/.350/.500 with a 15.7% strikeout rate and three of his five home runs. Rio Ruiz didn’t affect the final score but reached base in all four plate appearances with three singles and a walk.
Andrew Albers got the start for Gwinnett and pitched 5 1⁄3 innings allowing three runs. In 17 appearances this season (eight starts) Albers has allowed a 3.45 ERA and has struck out 62 batters to only nine walks in 60 innings. Albers was replaced in the sixth by David Peterson, who only needed to face one batter as he forced a double play to end the inning. Peterson was brought out and pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Peterson had struggled and allowed five runs in his two previous outings, so this came as a nice bounce back and he got the win in the game. Mauricio Cabrera pitched a perfect eighth inning for Gwinnett with two strikeouts. Cabrera hasn’t allowed a walk in four straight outings, which is the second-longest streak of his career. Enrique Burgos closed the game with a perfect inning and earned the save. Burgos has not allowed a run in the eight innings since he was picked up from the Diamondbacks.
Next Game: 6/25 vs (31-44) Norfolk Tides @ 1:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
GWN: Kris Medlen (0-1, 5.29 ERA)
NOR: Chris Lee (3-4, 5.71 ERA)
(35-38) Mississippi Braves 2, (38-34) Biloxi Shuckers 1
Travis Demeritte, 3B: 0-3, BB .236/.320/.422
Ronald Acuna, CF: 1-3, 2B, BB, .305/.359/.467
Sal Giardina, 1B: 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB, .293/.382/.328
Mike Soroka, SP: 6 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2.18 ERA
Mississippi took a pitcher’s duel with a couple of late runs, despite being out-hit in the game 13 to 7. Mississippi opened the scoring in the game in the sixth after Travis Demeritte reached on a two-out walk. Sal Giardina followed him with a double and Demeritte scored from first to give Mississippi the lead. After Biloxi tied it in the bottom of the inning the Braves manufactured a run in the seventh. Dylan Moore led off with a walk and advanced on a sacrifice bunt, and Jared James came through with a pinch hit single to score him. Ronald Acuna has regained his momentum at the plate with his three-game hitting streak, and he has only struck out one time in those three games and three times over his past eight games. Travis Demeritte has not broken out of his slump, and although he hasn’t struck out a tremendous amount over the past week and a half he only has two hits in his past eight games. Demeritte is only hitting .183 in the month of June.
Mike Soroka did very Mike Soroka things on the mound with his six innings of work, though he did have to work around nine hits by the Shuckers. The Shuckers had two hits and a throwing error in the first inning, but a runner caught stealing helped Soroka to escape unscathed. The first two batters reached in the second inning, but Soroka forced a double play as one of his eight ground ball outs, and retired to next batter to get out of it. Biloxi was quiet in the middle innings, but Soroka ran into his biggest problems in the sixth inning after being handed a one run lead. Soroka allowed the first two batters to single, and then allowed another single after a sacrifice bunt to tie the game and snap Soroka’s streak of 30 1⁄3 scoreless innings. Soroka forced two fly ball outs to end the inning and his day was done at 84 pitches. Bradley Roney pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Soroka, and struck out four batters. Philip Pfeifer was brought on to close the game, and decided to make it interesting by allowing a one out double and then a single to put runners at the corners. Pfeifer intentionally walked Maurice Dubon following a stolen base, and was able to get Dustin DeMuth to ground into double play to end the threat and the game.
Next Game: 6/25 vs (38-34) Biloxi Shuckers @ 6:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
MIS: Luiz Gohara (1-1, 3.48 ERA)
BLX: Freddy Peralta (Has not Pitched at AA)
(27-42) Florida Fire Frogs 4, (34-37) Fort Myers Miracle 3
Alex Jackson, DH: 1-4, .290/.355/.538
Austin Riley, 3B: 3-3, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 3 RBI, .257/.318/.423
Brett Cumberland, C: 1-3, 2B, BB, .222/.364/.333
Touki Toussaint, SP: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 5.72 ERA
Early run support on the bat of Austin Riley and strong late work from the bullpen were enough for Florida to take a 4-0 win. This gave them at least a split of a series and an opportunity for their first series win since May 8-10. Anfernee Seymour led off the Florida offensive push with a single in the first inning, and two batters late Austin Riley hit his 10th home run of the season to give Florida an early lead. After the Miracle cut the lead in half, Riley homered again in the third inning to get the run back. Alay Lago scored the final run for the Fire Frogs in the fourth, hitting his second home run of the season. The Miracle were careful with Riley the remainder of the game, walking him on four pitches in his next plate appearance and moving to a 3-1 count before making a mistake that Riley was able to knock for a double. Despite the Fire Frogs inability to find a consistent bat in the lead off spot Riley is 3rd in the lead in RBIs and has lowered his strikeout rate on the season to a manageable 23.3%.
Touki Toussaint got the start for the Fire Frogs, and started quickly retiring the first seven batters he faced with three strikeouts before allowing a walk with one out in the third inning. Toussaint forced a ground ball, but the Fire Frogs could only get one and a two-out single scored the Miracle’s first run of the game. Touki allowed a leadoff single and stolen base in the fourth, and though he retired the next three batters the runner came around to score on an RBI ground out. Toussaint lost his command a bit towards the end of his start. Though he led the inning off with a strikeout, Toussaint hit a batter, walked a man, and threw a wild pitch to get runners to second and third with two outs. Toussaint got a strikeout from the next batter, but Brett Cumberland couldn’t handle it and Toussaint was charged with a wild pitch that scored a run. Toussaint struck out the next batter, his seventh of the game, to end his start after five innings at 82 pitches. With 82 strikeouts on the season Toussaint is the current leader in the Braves system and is tied for the lead in the Florida State League. Chad Sobotka and Daniel Winkler each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Toussaint, bringing up the 8-9 combination of AJ Minter and Corbin Clouse. Both predictably pitched scoreless innings, striking out three combined while walking none.
Next Game: 6/25 vs (34-37) Fort Myers Miracle 5:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
FLO: Ricardo Sanchez (3-7, 4.48 ERA)
FTM: Anthony McIver (1-2, 2.27 ERA)
(39-34) Rome Braves 5, (31-40) Asheville Tourists 6 F/10
Randy Ventura, CF: 2-5, SB, .306/.349/.336
Austin Bush, 1B: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .455/.500/.909
Justin Ellison, LF: 0-4, .266/.321/.477
Joey Wentz, SP: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 3.31 ERA
Rome scored four runs in the fifth inning of this game, but it wasn’t enough as they couldn’t hold onto the lead and lost in extra innings. Rome was being no-hit through three innings and trailed by a run, but Randy Ventura singled to open the fourth inning and extend his hitting streak to six games. Ventura stole his league-leading 26th base of the season, then advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt and score on an RBI ground out to tie the game. Rome opened the fifth inning with a single, and then two errors, and a double from Jordan Rodgers to put them up by a runs with none down. A wild pitch scored another run, and Ramon Osuna drove in the third run of the inning with a base hit to center field. A two-out single scored Osuna and gave Rome a four run lead, but they didn’t score for the remainder of the game. Randy Ventura has gone on a stolen base binge over the past two weeks with seven stolen bases in his past nine games.
Joey Wentz has been quietly putting up one of the best seasons among Braves pitchers this season, and today was no exception as he had another solid performance. Wentz opened the game with two strikeouts in his perfect first inning, and through three the only blemish on his outing was a solo home run that led off the third inning. Wentz pitched two more scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth with three more strikeouts. He allowed a walk to open the sixth inning, and the flood gates opened from there for the Tourists. That walk was followed with an error, and then with one out a single scored the second run of the game. A double followed by another error cut the 5-1 lead down to 5-4, and Wentz was pulled following his second walk of the game. Wentz has been arguably as dominant as Bryse Wilson this season, but despite being the 40th overall pick hasn’t received quite the same level of attention. Wentz has been consistent although unspectacular in any individual span this season, but it has added up to a 3.30 ERA. He has struck out more than a batter per inning this season, walked exactly three batters per nine, and has a 2.53 FIP that is the second best in the South Atlantic League. Jon Kennedy cleaned up the fifth inning without allowing another run, but gave up the tying run in the seventh inning. Rome held the Tourists scoreless for the next two innings, but a walk off double with two down in the 10th gave Asheville the win.
Next Game: 6/25 vs (39-34) Asheville Tourists 2:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
ROM: Bryse Wilson (4-3, 2.75 ERA)
ASH: Antonio Santos (3-6, 4.70 ERA)
(1-2) Danville Braves 7, (2-1) Elizabethton Twins 8
Isranel Wilson, CF: 1-4, 3B, BB, SB, 2 RBI, .300/.417/.800
Derian Cruz, SS: 0-4, BB, RBI, SB, .100/.182/.200
William Contreras, DH: 2-4, 2B, BB, .429/.444/.571
Kyle Muller, SP: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 9.82 ERA
For the second time in the three games this season, Danville took an early lead over the Twins but couldn’t hold back the offense and took a loss despite a strong performance from the lineup. Danville opened with three runs in the first inning. Derian Cruz reached first on a dropped third strike and William Contreras followed with an infield single, setting the stage for Drew Lugbauer’s three-run home run. After Elizabethton bounced back and tied it in the bottom the inning, Isranel answered with a triple that scored two and gave Danville the lead once more. Wilson then scored on a ground out by Cruz. Danville was held scoreless until the sixth, when Derian Cruz walked with two outs. Cruz stole second base, then scored on two wild pitches and gave Danville a 7-4 lead. Isranel Wilson has hit safely in each of his first three games this season, with four RBIs out of the leadoff spot and more importantly only two strikeouts. Wilson is still just 19, but his struggles last season highlighted the needs he has offensively. His early success gives heart that he can put together his double plus power-speed combo and solid offensive approach into a stellar offensive and defensive package.
Kyle Muller made his first start of the season and struggled early in the game before settling down. Muller allowed a single to lead off his start before back-to-back home runs erased the early lead his offense gave him. Muller allowed a double and a walk after that, but didn’t allow a run and struck out three batters to escape without giving the Twins a lead. In the second and third innings Muller only allowed one baserunner, who he ended up picking off of first base, and struck out two batters. Coming out for the fourth, Muller again had some struggles, walking the leadoff man and throwing a wild pitch that moved him to second base. A double scored the runner, but Muller ended his start in good fashion with a strikeout. Zach Rice got the final out of the inning and then pitched two more scoreless with four strikeouts. Taylor Hyssong was brought on for the seventh, and allowed an unearned run on a double following an error. Hyssong allowed another run in the eighth that brought the game within a run. Jesus Heredia was brought on to close the game, and after a walk and a single he allowed a two-run double that scored the tying and winning runs and gave the Braves their second walk off loss of the early season.
Next Game: 6/25 vs (0-3) Princeton Rays 6:00 PM ET
Probable Starters
DAN: Jaret Hellinger
PRN: TBD