Gwinnett Braves 4, Norfolk Tides 7
- Michael Reed, RF: 2-4, 2B, BB, run, .375/.482/.588
- Alex Jackson, C: 2-4, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, .250/.396/.625
- Touki Toussaint, SP: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 8 K, 2.01 ERA
Touki Toussaint continued his solid work this season, but the bullpen faltered as Gwinnett fell 7-4. Touki hasn’t missed a beat since his promotion to Gwinnett. Not only is he still racking up the strikeouts, but he has not given up more than three earned runs in any of the five starts he has made since being promoted to Triple-A. Touki also ranks third amongst all Top 100 pitchers in strikeouts this season with 139 behind only Michael Kopech and Dylan Cease. Sadly, Chad Bell and Fernando Salas combined to give up four earned runs in two innings of work which proved to be the difference in the game. Adam McCreery, newly promoted to Gwinnett, finished the game out with a scoreless inning of relief.
On offense, Alex Jackson had a triple and a home run as he looks to get his season back on track at Triple-A after a tough season in Mississippi. Michael Reed just keeps hitting as he had two more hits on Sunday. Austin Riley recorded a hit in the game, but has struggled on the whole lately as he is batting .189 over his last 10 games.
Mississippi Braves 2, Chattanooga Lookouts 9
- Cristian Pache, CF: 3-5, 2 RBI, .381/.381/.476
- Alejandro Salazar, 2B: 3-4, run, .330/.
- Ricardo Sanchez, SP: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 5.65 ERA
This was a tough game as Ricardo Sanchez had to leave the game early and the Braves got walloped by the score of 9-2. Ricardo can’t seem to get anything to go his way this season. After missing a big chunk of the season on the DL, he was just starting to get back into a rhythm on the mound. However, he was struck on what looked like his hand or arm by a line drive and had to leave the game in the second inning. Tyler Pike and Jason Hursh then combined to give up seven runs (five earned) in 2.2 innings of work. Pike walked five batters in his outing and has now walked 34 batter in 25.2 inning this season.
On offense, how about Cristian Pache? For a guy who came into the season with his bat being his biggest question mark...he is hitting just fine. He was promoted to Double-A recently and he has eight hits in his first five games for Mississippi. Alejandro Salazar has been really good for Mississippi of late as he is batting solidly over .300 now and has 13 hits over his last 10 games. Brandon Downes had a pair of hits in the game as well.
Florida Fire Frogs 7, Fort Myers Miracle 3
- Braxton Davidson, 1B: 1-5, HR, 4 RBI, .179/.281/.378
- Garrison Schwartz, RF: 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI, .243/.323/.345
- Jordan Rodgers, 3B: 3-5, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 runs, .224/.264/.333
- Jeremy Walker, SP: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 4.42 ERA
The Fire Frogs’ offense has been clicking lately after the promotions of Drew Waters and William Contreras, but some more familiar faces keyed their 7-3 win. Jeremy Walker was quite good on Sunday in pitching into the seventh inning and giving up just one earned run. A nice bounce back start from his last outing where he gave up five earned runs to be sure. The hefty lefty Chase Johnson-Mullins, one of our favorite people fwiw, pitched an inning of scoreless relief and looks like he is healthy again.
Drew Waters had a hit and a stolen base in the game, but the heavy lifting for the Florida offense came from the 4-6 hitters for Florida. Braxton Davidson hit his 16th home run of the season and drove in four runs, Jordan Rodgers went wild with three hits including a double and a homer, and Garrison Schwartz had a pair of hits and drove in a pair of runners as well.
Rome Braves 2, Greenville Drive 9
- Justin Dean, CF: 3-4, 3B, BB, run, .571/.667/.786
- Jefrey Ramos, DH: 2-5, 2B, 3B, RBI, .245/.287/.419
- Odalvi Javier, SP: 4.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 6 K, 4.19 ERA
Tough game for the Rome Braves as they struggled with runners in scoring position in their 9-2 loss. We won’t dwell on the pitching staff long as Odalvi Javier pitched his way into and out of trouble throughout his appearance and John Curtis had a long relief outing that he would likely prefer to forget.
On offense, Rome had its chances but they went a combine 0-11 with runners in scoring position. Justin Dean has been excellent since his promotion and set the table nicely in reaching base four times in the leadoff spot. Jefrey Ramos, Drew Lugbauer, and Shean Michel join Dean with multi-hit games, but the Braves struggled to string together hits and stage a rally.
Danville Braves 8, Bluefield Blue Jays 6
- CJ Alexander, 3B: 2-5, RBI, .362/.432/.493
- Greg Cullen, 2B: 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, .280/.381/.379
- Matt Rowland, SP: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 3.19 ERA
Danville never took its foot off the gas as they piled up the runs and secured an 8-6 win over Bluefield. CJ Alexander had another multi-hit game, although it is worth mentioning that his significant raw power has yet to show up much in games to date. Greg Cullen did a bunch of damage as well with three hits and three RBIs and Luis Mejia had three hits of his oown in the leadoff spot. Matt Rowland was solid if unspectacular as he gave up three runs and struck out six in his start. For a guy that hadn’t pitched in a couple of years due to injury, he has done well for himself in 2018.