(12-18) Buffalo Bisons 2, (18-15) Gwinnett Stripers 9

• Austin Riley, LF: 3-for-4, 2(HR), 3RBI, 2R, 1BB, 1.073 OPS
• Adam Duvall, RF: 1-for-5, R, .999 OPS
• Alex Jackson, C: 2-for-5, 2RBI, 2R, HR, .882 OPS
• Ben Rowen, P: 3.1IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K
• Jonny Venters, RP: 1.0IP 1H 0R 1BB 1K

Box Score

This recap belongs solely to three players who are filling our hearts with tons of joy right now and they are: Austin Riley, Adam Duvall, and Alex Jackson. Three MLB caliber bats are all performing at high levels for Gwinnett, with Austin leading the pack, and it’s helping Gwinnett play some really fun baseball. Lets start with Austin Riley.

Austin Riley got the fun started in the first inning by hitting his 11th homer of the season with two outs.

He decided this wasn’t enough as he drew a bases loaded walk in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 6-2, and then homered AGAIN in the eighth inning to extend the Gwinnett lead to 9-2 - a majestic 426’ blast.

It was Austin’s third multi-homer game in his past eight games, he has a 1.074 OPS through 32 games, and the Braves moved him to left to get some work in the outfield because he’s forcing his way into the majors right now. All of that said, Austin has now become a plus defender at third as well so it will be interesting to see how the Braves make the duo of Donaldson/Riley work. One thing is clear - both are gifted players and they need to find a way to get both of them in the big league lineup.

Spotlight number two goes to Adam Duvall who didn’t have a particularly incredible game, going 1-for-5, but he’s regained some value with his bat - now OPSing .999 on the season for Gwinnett. He provides a ton of value in the outfield as he is a plus defender at each spot so if he can get his bat together and hit consistently he is an incredibly valuable asset for the major league team.

Spotlight number three goes to Alex Jackson who went 2-for-5 with this homerun:

After a rather awful stint in the big leagues where he appeared in three games and went 0-for-10 with a walk, Alex has started hitting consistently - slashing .262/.311/.571 through 11 games with Gwinnett. While it’s beginning to appear as though he won’t hit that potential - he’s worked tirelessly behind the plate and has turned into a solid catcher and the results won’t lie with his bat - .883 OPS to start the season. All three of these players have extremely high value for the big league team if they pan out and so far, so good.

(22-11) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 1, (16-15) Mississippi Braves 0

• Drew Waters, LF: 3-for-5, 2(2B), .931 OPS
• Cristian Pache, CF: 1-for-4, .906 OPS
• Tucker Davidson, SP: 5.0IP 6H 1ER 3BB 7K
• Claudio Custodio, RP: 3.0IP 1H 0R 0BB 3K

Box Score

Another fantastic pitching performance that was wasted because of offensive struggles. The Trio of Tucker Davidson, Claudio Custodio, and Jason Hursh gave up just one earned run over nine innings while striking out ten in a tough loss for Mississippi. Tucker lowered his ERA on the season to 1.52 while navigating through five innings tonight while picking up the unfortunate loss. Most impressively, perhaps, was Mississippi’s ability to limit the Flying Tigers to a 1-for-15 performance with runners in scoring position.

Offensively, Drew Waters was the show as he continued his absolutely torrid hitting - going 3-for-5 and raising his OPS to .931 on the season now. Two of those three hits were extra-base hits, and while the walks aren’t exactly where you want them right now you can not argue with the results he’s getting at all including an astounding 41% extra-base hit percentage. It was one of Pache’s more difficult games as he went 1-for-4 with a stolen base but stranded four runners on base...which is still a good day. Connor Lien went 1-for-2 with two walks, and picked up his third stolen base of the season as well. Outside of that duo the rest of the team has struggled to start the season - with Connor Lien’s .764 OPS being the third highest on the team. Didder picked up a walk but went 0-for-3 and has continued to struggle to start the season - now hitting .136 with a .523 OPS. Tyler Neslony, Andy Wilkins, Connor Lien, Ray-Patrick Didder, are all hitting under .200 for the season yet the team is one game over .500 - rather impressive and shows how well the pitching has performed and how hot Pache, and Waters have been.

(12-21) Florida Fire Frogs 1, (14-17) Lakeland Flying Tigers 2

• William Contreras, C: 0-for-4, .739 OPS
• Greyson Jenista, RF: 0-for-3, BB, .669 OPS
• Philip Pfeifer, P: 5.0IP 4H 2ER 0BB 6K
• Matt Withrow, P: 3.0IP 1H 0R 2BB 4K

Box Score

Philip Pfeifer got the call for a piggyback start with Matt Withrow and did a fine job limiting Lakeland to just two earned runs over five innings. It was Philip’s second appearance, and second start, of the season since he was moved from Double-A to High-A Florida and he had one of his best appearances of the season as he avoided any walks. Piggybacking off of Philip was our old friend Matt Withrow who had his second scoreless outing of the season - giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out four over the games final three innings. It’s been a long road for Matt, who has constantly battled injuries since the unfortunate Carolina bus crash, so it’s very easy to root for him. Here’s to hoping he can escape injury the rest of his career because he’s earned it.

The good pitching wasn’t enough for the win as the Fire Frogs offense was limited to just one run on four hits. That one run came in the sixth inning when Riley Unroe singled to centerfield and drove in Brett Langhorne. It was a pretty anemic offensive performance from Florida who don’t have a single every day player with an OPS over .800 who have played more than 10 games. Drew Lugbauer went 1-for-4 and is now hitting .154 on the season with an .546 OPS. Brett Langhorne had a perfect day at the plate in the loss - going 2-for-2 with a double, and walk.

(12-19) Greenville Drive 3, (14-17) Rome Braves 4

• Andrew Moritz, LF: 2-for-4, R, 2B, .546 OPS
• Trey Harris, RF: 1-for-4, 2RBI, 1.005 OPS
• Griffin Benson, 1B: 2-for-4, R, 2(2B), .685 OPS
• Alan Rangel, SP: 5.0IP 7H 3ER 3BB 0K
• Victor Vodnik, RP: 3.0IP 1H 0R 0BB 4K

Box Score

Alan Rangel was solid in Rome’s 4-3 win over Greenville - pitching five innings of three run baseball and picking up the win. It wasn’t a particularly flash game as he didn’t pick up a single strikeout and needed 88 pitches to go five innings but all that matters is he was able to limit the offense and keep Rome in the game and let the bullpen takeover which is exactly what happened. Victor Vodnik came in relief and the young pitcher threw three, one hit innings where he struck out four and walked zero. Vodnik threw 38 pitches over those three innings - of which 25 were strikes. He’s an extremely intriguing arm - one that will likely see his stock sore over the duration of the season while he continues to learn how to pitch and harness that arm he has. On the season Vodnik now has a .183 batting average against, 14.5 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, and 1.04 WHIP - all things considered this is an absolute dream start of the season for Vodnik who will likely follow the Freddy Tarnok path of development this season and piggyback most of the year before being unleashed as a starting pitcher next season. Lukas Young picked up his fifth save of the season while working around a pair of singles before ultimately closing the game.

The Braves got on the board in the second inning when Carlos Paraguate singled to right to score Griffin Benson and tie the game up at 1-1. Rome gave up the lead and trailed 3-1 up until the fifth inning when Player of the Month Trey Harris hit a two run single to center to score Justin Dean, and Andrew Moritz to tie the game. Two hitters later Griffin Benson grounded into a double play that drove in Greg Cullen and gave Rome a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Justin Dean went 0-for-1 but drew three walks and scored once - raising his OBP on the season to .362, and he now is OPSing .701 on the season.