(50-52) Gwinnett Braves 8, (64-40) Lehigh Valley Ironpigs 5
Ronald Acuna, RF: 4-5, 2B, HR, RBI, .318/.400/.606
Dansby Swanson, SS: 1-4, RBI, .250/.400/.250
Rio Ruiz, 3B,: 2-4, 2 2B, BB, RBI, .255/.316/.446
Matt Wisler, SP: 7.2 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3.61 ERA
Ronald Acuna led the game off with a bang by homering on the third pitch he saw, and the Gwinnett Braves didn’t slow down and took a win in the series opener with Syracuse. The Braves tacked on 4 more run in the third, led again by Acuna who opened the rally with a 2 out single. Jace Peterson and Dansby Swanson followed him with singles, scoring Acuna, then Rio Ruiz doubled to score Peterson. Sean Kazmar singled in both Ruiz and Swanson to stretch the lead to 5-0. Acuna led yet another rally when he led off the 7th with a single, then an error and a walk to Rio Ruiz loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly scored Acuna and then Dustin Peterson doubles to score the final 2 runs of the inning. Acuna’s one out was a ground ball he beat to first, but was called out by the umpire.
Matt Wisler got the win despite a rough outing, but kept the ball in the zone all well and completed 7 2⁄3 innings on less than 100 pitches. He forced 8 ground ball outs on the game, a season high, but allowed 11 hits to get through and 4 runs to score. Syracuse strung together hits in the third and fourth innings to score three runs and bring the lead to 5-3, but Wisler buckled down after that and Gwinnett was able to get all the runs back. A two out single in the 8th scored the 4th run of the game charged to Wisler and he was lifted for AJ Minter. Minter struggled once again for Gwinnett allowing a run over an inning of work on a hit and 2 walks and left the game in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and a runner on 3rd. David Peterson stranded the final runner of the game to earn his team-leading 7th save of the season.
Next Game: 7/30 vs (38-67) Syracuse Chiefs @ 1:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
GWN: Andrew Albers (10-3, 3.13 ERA)
SYR: Jacob Turner (0-3, 8.39 ERA)
(46-58) Mississippi Braves 4, (48-576-56) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 0
Austin Riley, 3B: 1-4, .250/.311/.357
Joe Odom, C: 3-4, 417/.481/.500
Kolby Allard, SP: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 3.56 ERA
Kolby Allard led Mississippi with a strong outing, and early runs were enough for them to easily cruise to a win. Mississippi first rallied in the 2nd inning when Tyler Neslony led off the inning with a hit. A single from Joe Odom and a walk to Emerson Landoni loaded the bases, then Connor Lien came through with a run scoring single. Sal Giardina followed with a single that scored 2 runs and pushed the game to 3-0. That was enough for Kolby Allard yesterday, but for good measure Emerson Landoni singled in Austin Riley to stretch the lead to 4-0 after three innings. Sal Giardina’s 2 run single was his first hit since his 2 back on July 7.
Kolby Allard was in control of the Jumbo Shrimps from the first pitch, and completed 5 2⁄3 innings of shutout ball. This was the first time Allard has managed to finish a game without allowing an earned run since May 14, and ended a poor 3 game stretch during which he allowed 6 home runs and had a 9.00 ERA. Allard set a season high by forcing 8 ground ball outs compared to just 3 fly balls. Allard never faced trouble in the game, the closest being his final inning when he allowed 2 hits before being pulled with 2 outs. Allard was replaced by Danny Reynolds, who completed the final 3 1⁄3 innings without allowing a run. Reynolds only allowed 1 hit and no walks, earning a very long save for Mississippi.
Next Game: 7/30 vs (45-58) Mobile Baybears @ 6:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
MIS: Mike Soroka (10-5, 2.32 ERA)
MOB: TBD
(36-61) Florida Fire Frogs 5, (54-51) Dunedin Blue Jays 7
Brett Cumberland, C: 3-5, 2 RBI, .296/.384/.398
Carlos Castro, 1B: 2-5, 2 2B, .271/.296/.406
Justin Ellison, RF: 1-4, 2 RBI, .186/.200/.419
Enderson Franco, SP: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 4.59 ERA
Florida scored 5 early runs but couldn’t hold on as the talented Blue Jays lineup put up a late rally to hand Florida their 6th straight loss. Anfernee Seymour led off the game with a double, his first extra base hit since July 13, and later came around to score on a Justin Ellison single and give Florida an early 1-0 advantage. A walk, a hit by pitch, and a fielding error loaded the bases for Braxton Davidson, who came through with a two out single to score the second run of the game. Brett Cumberland followed him by driving in 2 runs on a single to push the lead to 4 runs. After a rough start to his time in Florida Cumberland has hit safely in 8 straight games and reached base in 10 straight, and is 17-34 during his hitting streak with 8 RBIs and only 4 strikeouts. Dunedin got one back, but Florida responded in the third with a sacrifice fly that scored Alay Lago. Holding a 5-1 lead the Fire Frogs offense went into hibernation, and a huge 8th inning took the lead and the game away from them.
Enderson Franco started for the Fire Frogs and turned in a strong performance with only 1 run allowed over 6 2⁄3 innings. Enderson worked well in the lower half of the zone, forcing 8 ground ball outs compared to just 1 fly ball. Sean McLaughlin finished off the 7th inning for Franco while keeping it a 5-1 game, and was brought out in the 8th inning. McLaughlin got the first batter to fly out, then allowed 4 hits and 2 walks that scored 4 runs and tied the game before being pulled for Josh Graham. Both of Graham’s inherited runners scored before he recorded the final two out, charging all 6 runs in the 8th run to McLaughlin’s line.
Next Game: 7/30 vs (54-51) Dunedin Blue Jays 5:00 PM ET
Probable Starters
FLO: Oriel Caicedo (0-2, 4.78 ERA)
DUN: TBD
(52-50) Rome Braves 7, (49-54) Asheville Tourists 3
Jordan Rodgers, 3B: 3-5, 3 2B, 3 RBI .290/.330/.410
Isranel Wilson, RF: 1-2, 2 BB, RBI, 2 Outfield Assists (5), .229/.288/.292
Cristian Pache, CF: 3-5, 2B, SB, Outfield Assist (14), .281/.337/.348
Tucker Davidson, RP: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 2.43 ERA
Jordan Rodgers led the Rome offense with 3 doubles and 3 RBIs to help a 7-3 win over Asheville. Rodgers opened the scoring with a two double that scored Isranel Wilson, giving Rome a 1-0 lead in the second. Asheville tied it in the next half inning, but Austin Bush broke that tie with his second home run of the season. Rodgers followed him with a double and came around to score on a single by Carlos Martinez. Isranel Wilson singled in a run in the 5th inning and Carlos Martinez knocked one in in the 6th inning, stretching the lead out to 5-2. Rodgers came through again in the 7th inning with his 3rd double of the game, scoring Lucas Herbert and Isranel Wilson to give Rome a 7-2 lead. Jordan Rodgers was hitting .191 on July 20 but in the 8 games since has gone 16-32 with 6 doubles to bring his OPS up to .740. Despite only playing in 29 games Rodgers in only 4 behind the team lead in doubles with 12 and leads all current Rome Braves in OPS. Isranel Wilson left after scoring that run in the 7th for unknown reasons.
Tucker Davidson made his 6th start with Rome and completed 5 innings once again, holding the Tourists to 2 runs on 76 pitches. Davidson didn’t strike anyone out but forced 10 ground ball outs over his 5 innings. Tucker was the beneficiary of good outfield defense, as Isranel Wilson and Cristian Pache combined to throw out 3 runners at 3rd and home plate to help preserve Davidson’s game. The big blow off of Davidson came with Tyler Nevin’s 2nd inning home run, just the second allowed by Davidson all season and the third of his career. This was the first time this season and just the second time in his career that Tucker Davidson entered the game and didn’t strike out at least one batter. Jason Motte pitched an inning of perfect relief for Rome. Ryan Schlosser allowed 4 hits and one unearned run over 2 innings. Matt Custred pitched the final inning and recorded a strikeout for all 3 of his outs, with the only baserunner allowed being a walk.
Next Game: 7/30 vs (49-54) Asheville Tourists 2:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
ROM: Joey Wentz (5-3, 2.51 ERA)
ASH: Riley Pint (2-9, 4.24 ERA)
(18-18) Danville Braves 2, (17-19) Johnson City Cardinals
Drew Waters, CF: 0-3 BB, .238/.347/.286
WIlliam Contreras C: 1-3, 2B, .326/.421/.506
Justin Smith, RF: 1-2, HR, BB, RBI, .280/.368/.360
Huascar Ynoa, SP: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 4.85 ERA
(18-19) Danville Braves 6, (18-19) Johnson City Cardinals 10
Raysheandall Michel, CF: 2-3, 2B, BB, 2 RBI, .325/.378/.422
Kevin Maitan, SS: 0-3, .200/.250/.267
Derian Cruz, 2B: 1-4, RBI, .259/.307/.371
Dilmer Mejia, SP: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 5.79 ERA
Danville was swept in the double header with the Cardinals, but the recently acquired Huascar Ynoa made a successful first start in the system. In game one Justin Smith tied up the game in the 4th inning with his first career home run, and Riley Delgado singled in the 5th inning to give Danville a 2-1 lead. Danville couldn’t hold on however, falling 3-2. Griffin Benson was the only Braves player in the opening game with two hits. The Danville offense put up a stronger fight in game 2 by scoring 6 runs, but errors by Hagen Owenby and Drew Lugbauer helped the Cardinals put up 8 runs in the 4th inning and take down the Braves. Shean Michel reached base 3 times for Danville and pushed his OPS since promotion to .884. Kevin Maitan went 0-3 for Danville, struck out twice, and made a throwing error in the first that led to a run scoring for the Cardinals.
Huascar Ynoa started game one for Danville and completed 4 innings with only one run allowed. His 6 strikeouts are his second highest total of the season and he threw 48 of his 61 pitches for strikes. He had 3 ground ball outs to one fly ball. Cutter Dyals came out first in relief of Ynoa and pitched 2 scoreless innings . Walter Borkovich as brought in for the save with Danville up 1-0, but blew his second consecutive save by allowing 2 runs in his single inning of work. Borkovich only allowed 1 run in his first 10 1⁄3 innings but has now allowed 4 in his last 1 2⁄3 innings. Dilmer Mejia got the start in game two and allowed 8 runs over 3 2/3, though he received little help from his defense with 4 unearned runs charged to him. Mejia did walk 2 batters but struck out a season high 7 batters. Mejia has struck out 29 batters to just 7 walks in 28 innings this season, but has struggled with his strand rate and is still pitching to a 5.79 ERA despite a 3.32 FIP.
Next Game: 7/30 vs (9-28) Bristol Pirates 4:00 PM ET
Probable Starters
DAN: Jasseel De La Cruz (0-0, 4.00 ERA)
BRS: TBD
(15-14) GCL Braves 10, (14-13) GCL Yankees East 3
Jose Bermudez, RF: 4-5, 3B, RBI, .292/.346/.375
Jean Carlos Encarnacion, 3B: 3-5, 3 RBI, .350/.374/.563
Yunior Severino, 2B: 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI .297/.373/.440
Guillermo Zuniga, SP: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1.50 ERA
The GCL Braves had a huge offensive day and good pitching to cruise to an easy win over the Yankees. After the Yankees took the lead in the first, the Braves bounced back and Yunior Severino came through with a double that scored two runs and gave the GCL Braves a 2-1 lead. Jean Carlos Encarnacion followed him with a single that scored Severino. Braulio Vasquez led off the 6th inning with a single and came around to score on Jose Bermudez’s triple. The GCL Braves loaded the bases for Jean Carlos Encarnacion, who singled to score 2 more runs and push the lead to 6-1. Zack Soria singled in Yunior Severino for the 5th run of the inning and 9th of the game. Yunior Severino’s 3 hits were the first time he has recorded 3 hits in a game in his career. Braulio Vasquez had 2 hits in the game, and has been an on base machine this entire season with a .305/.431/.407 line. Jean Carlos Encarnacion’s 3 hits keeps him in second place in the Gulf Coast League with 36 on the season. He is also second in the league with a .937 OPS. Jeffrey Ramos drove in his league-leading 26th run of the season with a sacrifice fly in the 4th inning.
Guillermo Zuniga made his second start of the season for the Braves, and fired 3 solid innings. Zuniga only allowed 1 run in the first inning after the leadoff hitter doubled, but settled in following that and only allowed 3 hits and a walk total in the game. His 3 strikeouts tied his career high. Albinson Volquez piggybacked Zuniga with 3 innings of his own and allowed 1 run as well. Volquez struck out 1 batter and walked one. Zach Becherer pitched another scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts. Becherer has struck out 12 batters in 10 innings this season. Miguel Jerez finished off the game with 2 innings, and allowed 1 run on two hits, no walks, and struck out 3 batters.