Gwinnett Stripers 9, Pawtucket Paw Sox 10 - F/11
- Ronald Acuna Jr., CF: 3-6, run .217/.299/.283
- Rio Ruiz, 3B: 3-6, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 3 runs
- Carlos Franco, 1B: 3-5, 2B, RBI, BB
- Luiz Gohara, SP: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
The offense came to play for Gwinnett, but the bullpen gave up nine runs including four in the last inning that allowed Pawtucket to comeback and beat Gwinnett by the score of 10-9. Luiz Gohara was outstanding in his four innings of work in his rehab start as he gave up a solo homer for the sole run against him and struck out four batters on 58 pitches through four innings. His fastball had life, although his slider was the better pitch on this day as he was changing speeds and eye levels with it and get a lot of awkward swings. The rest of the pitching on this day was....less than good. Luke Jackson and Rex Brothers each gave up two earned runs in their relief appearances. Evan Phillips then came on and got two scoreless innings of relief to help the game get to extra innings. Unfortunately, Jason Hursh came on after that and proceeded to give up five runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk, including four runs in the bottom of the eleventh inning where Gwinnett went into it with a three-run lead. It was pretty brutal to watch.
On offense, everyone got in on the fun as six Stripers had multi-hit games and only Jaff Decker went without a hit and he had two walks on the day. Ronald Acuna Jr. had a three-hit day, all singles, and scored a run while not striking out. This development resulted in roughly four dozen people tweeting at me asking when he was going to get called up...the internet is a fun place. Rio Ruiz had a big day with three hits of his own including two doubles while driving in three runs. Ruiz and Acuna were involved in a thoroughly weird and unlucky triple play. Acuna was running on contact and Ruiz hit a hard liner down the first base line that hit the first base umpire. The Sox got Ruiz at first and Acuna was left in no man’s land between second and first. For some reason, Ezequiel Carrera didn’t sprint home during the rundown and just sorta hung out between third and home and he was eventually the third out. Carlos Franco and Rob Brantly each had three hit days and Dustin Peterson drove in a pair of runs. Ezequie Carrera also connected for a solo homer, but all the scoring proved to be for naught as the bullpen’s struggles doomed the Stripers on this day.
Mississippi Braves, Mobile BayBears
Postponed - Rain sucks
Florida Fire Frogs 3, Lakeland Flying Tigers 4 - F/10
- Jose Bautista, 3B: 1-4, 2B, BB
- Cristian Pache, CF: 2-4, RBI, CS, .275/.286/.377
- Ray-Patrick Didder, SS: 2-5, run, .191/.255/.319
- Jeremy Walker, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 5.63 ERA
This was a close game as it was tied 2-2 from the second inning all the way into extra innings before a late rally allowed Lakeland to take down Florida by the score of 4-3. Jeremy Walker was pretty good for the Fire Frogs, but he flirted with danger a lot as he had four walks and four hits through his six innings of work. Fortunately, Lucas Herbert was behind the plate and helped him out with a caught stealing and a pickoff that minimized the effects of those extra runners. Troy Bacon made his debut for the Fire Frogs and threw three scoreless innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts. Then Mauricio Cabrera came into the game and....sigh. The former big leaguer proceeded two runs (one earned) on a hit and two walks without striking out anyone in his inning of work. In six appearances this season (5.2 innings), he has given up seven earned runs on eight hits and 10 walks while striking out three batters. No, none of that is a typo.
Jose Bautista reached base twice in this one as he had a double and a walk and he did start a nifty around the horn double play while over at third. Cristian Pache reached base three times with a pair of singles and a walk, but was also caught stealing in the game. Ray-Patrick Didder and Anfernee Seymour each had two hit games for the Fire Frogs and Braxton Davidson had a pretty peak Braxton game as his drew three walks and had a sacrifice fly as well. Both Brett Cumberland and Lucas Herbert have struggled of late as they went a combined 0-9 in this game. Herbert has recorded just five hits in his last ten games while Brett is 7-41 in his last ten with just one walk against 12 strikeouts.
Rome Braves, Augusta GreenJackets
Postponed - Rain sucks