Gwinnett Stripers 7, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 6
- Travis Demeritte, LF: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, K
- Jonathan Morales, C: 2-4, 2 R, 2 K
- Jack Lopez, 3B: 2-2, 2B, 2 BB, 2 R, CS
- Kyle Wright, SP: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER (4 R), 2 BB, 6 K
Jonathan Morales might just be Wright’s personal catcher now. This is the second straight outing he’s caught him. Last game was one of Wright’s best. As you can tell, Wright while not great, wasn’t terrible either. A bad throw by Morales allowed a unearned run to score. While Wright gave up a home run in the 2nd, he ran into some bad luck in the 4th inning. After getting a double play he proceeded to hit the next batter, gave up a single, walk and another single. On the plus side, he did finish with six strikeouts. It is a plus as he hasn’t been striking out many batters recently, but with Morales catching him, he’s averaging over 11K/9.
On the flip side, the Stripers had no issues putting away former Brave, Lucas Sims. He lasted all of 3 innings in which he gave up five runs. Travis Demeritte continues his onslaught of AAA pitching connecting for two doubles and driving in a couple of runs. Jonathan Morales is loving the MLB baseball as he hit a couple of singles to keep his batting close to .400. Even Kyle Wright picked up a hit and RBI in this game.
Connor Johnstone gave up the tying run in the 7th, but it didn’t take long for the Stripers to grab the lead back again. Luis Marte came up with the clutch 2 out single the scored Morales and Jack Lopez. Jonathan Aro pitched the final two innings and didn’t allow a run.
Probable 6/14 Starter: Bryce Wilson
Mississippi Braves 11, Biloxi Shuckers 6
- Cristian Pache, CF: 3-4, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 2 BB, K
- Drew Waters, LF: 1-6, 2 K
- William Contreras, C: 2-6, RBI, 2 R, 2 K
- Greyson Jenista, RF: 0-3, BB, 2 K
- Tyler Neslony, RF: 1-1, RBI, BB
- Joey Wentz, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
- Jeremy Walker, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
How do you follow up going 0-4 in the AA All-Star game? Well, how about hitting a couple of doubles, walking a couple of times and more importantly, drive in 5 runs. Well, that’s exactly what Cristian Pache did. He more than one upped Drew Waters today, who was not good, striking out a couple of times and leaving 7 men on base. All those RBI opportunities turned to dust. His furstration was on full display in the 8th when he struck out on three pitches, which has happened far too often this season. It’s just one game and you know he’ll go 5-5 tomorrow with several extra base hits. It was nice to see William Contreras pick up a couple of hits, but he did strike out a couple of times and allowed two stolen bases.
Greyson Jenista has certainly struggled since his “promotion”. Not sure what happened, but he got subbed out after going 0-3 (now hitting .143) for Tyler Neslony who promptly got on base with a BB and would later hit an RBI single.
Joey Wentz wasn’t very good again. It’s great that he’s been healthy this season, but his stuff has really backed up and he’s not fooling many. While he did get 6 strikeouts, he’s allowed 4 or more runs in four of his past five starts. Josh Graham toed the rubber in the 9th with a six run cushion. He then walked the first two batters, eventually giving up a run and left with the bases loaded and no outs. Luckily the Braves have Jeremy Walker, who has been outstanding in his first year of relief. He struck out the next three batters to end the threat and picked up his 4th save.
Probable 6/14 Starter: Jasseel De La Cruz
Florida Fire Frogs 4, St. Lucie Mets 2
- Trey Harris, RF: 1-4, HR, RBI
- Riley Delgado, SS: 2-4, 2B, RBI
- Logan Brown, C: 1-3
- Andrew Moritz, LF: 1-3, RBI
- Matt Withrow, SP: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
- Troy Bacon, RP: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
- Kurt Hoekstra, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Ok, so no one tell Trey Harris that your power is supposed to be sapped in the Florida State League. Harris hit a home run in the 1st inning and has now hit a home run in three straight games. The Frogs did most of their damage in the second inning with a couple run scoring singles (Jordan Rodgers, Andrew Moritz) and a double (Riley Delgado). They wouldn’t score against so it was a good thing that four runs was enough.
In the 3rd inning, Matt Withrow came out of the game with an apparent injury. He was cruising, but after walking two of the first three batters, he came out. It’s a shame as he just came back from a long injury, which has really marred his career to date. The bullpen really stepped up going 6.2 innings and just gave up one run. Kurt Hoekstra was dominant, picking up his 3rd save and is now sitting with a 1.93 ERA (1.14 WHIP).
Probable 6/14 Starter: Hayden Deal
Rome Braves 1, Hagerstown Suns 3
- Justin Dean, C: 0-4, K
- Braden Shewmake, SS: 0-3, K
- Shea Langeliers, C: 0-2, BB
- Jose Olague, SP: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
There’s a lot to unpack here. First, Justin Dean was activated from the IL, but went 0-4. Shewmake and Langeliers both made their debuts, but were very quiet. Langeliers even had his first chance to throw out a runner stealing, but was unsuccessful. He had a nice pop time, but the throw was off and pulled Cullen away from the base. Both were subbed after three at bats, so the Braves are taking a cautious approach with breaking them in to rookie pro ball. Rome batters could only muster three singles - Cullen, Benson and Bermudez.
Jose Olague was fine. He pitched deep into the game giving up three runs; so he did enough to keep his team in the game. Tanner Lawson pitched the remainder of the game and extended his scoreless streak to 7 games (13.2 innings).
Probable 6/14 Starter: Odalvi Javier
Danville Braves 2, Princeton Rays 3
- Cody Milligan, 2B: 1-4, R, BB
- Bryce Ball, 1B: 2-4, 2 RBI
- Cody Birdsong, 3B: 2-4, K
- Mitch Stallings, SP: 5.2 IN, 4 H, 0 ER (1 R), 1 BB, 5 K
- Cameron Kurz, RP: 1.1 IN, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Mitch Stallings was dominant through the first 5 innings, but ran out of gas in the 6th where he gave up two straight singles and a walk. Cameron Kurz was able to come in and shut things down. Alex Segal (22nd round) came in and gave up two runs in rookie ball fashion (a wild pitch/sac fly and another run scored on a fielding error by Charles Reyes. So not entirely Segal’s fault.
On offense, there wasn’t much. Cody Milligan continues to do good things in the leadoff spot by getting on base twice today. Bryce Ball has a primed oppotunity in the 1st to drive in a run, but failed. He made up for it in his next at bat by singling in a run in both the 3rd and 5th innings. Unfortunately it was the Ball show as no one else could hit with runners on. Willie Carter in particular struggled as he went 0-4 and left 5 men on base.
Probable 6/14 Starter: TBD
VIDEO: #Braves 24th round pick Bryce Ball talks about his hot start for the @DanvilleBraves. Series vs Princeton: 5-11, 1HR, double, 4RBI pic.twitter.com/l6JAJm0y9L
— Nick Pierce (@npierce84) June 21, 2019
VIDEO #Braves and former @DukeBASE LHP Mitch Stallings made his first start of the year tonight for the @DanvilleBraves. His line: 5.2IP 1ER 5H 1BB 5K 61 pitches, 44 strikes. Got a no decision. pic.twitter.com/4liZWHd0HI
— Nick Pierce (@npierce84) June 21, 2019