(4-1) Gwinnett Stripers 7, (1-4) Charlotte Knights 3
- Ender Inciarte, DH: 1-5
- Johan Camargo, 3B: 2-4, 2 HR, BB, 2 RBI
- Travis Demeritte, 2-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
- Connor Johnstone, SP: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
- Chris Martin, RP: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
- Sean Newcomb, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
The Gwinnett offense is on a tear to start the season, with the handful of players that could provide bench support in Atlanta leading the charge. The Stripers went 12 up and 12 down through the first four innings of this game, but the Charlotte starter started to struggle halfway through the second trip around the order and Gwinnett broke out. A leadoff double by Travis Demeritte sparked the offense in the fifth, and they loaded the bases with one out. An RBI ground out gave them a run and the lead, but a double play erased a chance to score more. That would not be much harm though, as the third trip through the order the offense exploded. Ender Inciarte singled with one out in the inning, and then Orlando Arcia, Johan Camargo, and Travis Demeritte went back-to-back-to-back on home runs to force the starter from the game as they led 5-0. A couple of walks and a hit from Philip Ervin pushed across another run and the Stripers went into the later innings with a commanding 6-0 lead. Camargo added his second home run in the 7th inning and the bullpen was able to hold on and give Gwinnett a 7-3 win.
Hey, let's make it three. The Stripers go back-to-back-to-back in the sixth to take a five-run lead thanks to this no-doubter from Travis Demeritte. pic.twitter.com/zczHi5j6vO
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) May 9, 2021
Johan Camargo's extra point is up ... and good. The Stripers lead 7 - 0 heading into the stretch thanks to his second solo shot of the day. pic.twitter.com/nGL6ggYa4F
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) May 9, 2021
The Stripers saw their starter get pulled just hours before game time to provide support for the big league bullpen, so they turned to swing man Connor Johnstone to provide innings and he did a marvelous job. Johnstone started out the game matching the Charlotte starter pitch for pitch with the first twelve batters he faced going back to the dugout empty handed. A single led off the fifth inning against him, but he immediately forced a double play to erase that runner and then a ground out to finish off the inning. Johnstone finished with five innings of one hit, shutout pitching with only 58 pitches thrown. Thomas Burrows was the first pitcher out of the bullpen in relief and he came in his first inning of work and looked sharp with two strikeouts. He struck out the first batter of the seventh but a fielding error by Arcia put a batter on base and he was not able to escape that allowing a two run home run with two outs in the inning. Chris Martin made his second rehab appearance and allowed a run after a leadoff walk in the 8th inning and then a double. Sean Newcomb finished off the game looking like the pre-COVID list Newk with three consecutive strikeouts on four pitches each for a dominant final inning.
A note to add to this game. We have not heard any news regarding Drew Waters, but he has missed the last two games.
Next Game: 5/9 @ (1-4) Charlotte Knights @ 2:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
GWN: TBD
CLT: Jimmy Lambert (0-0, 20.25 ERA)
(1-4) Mississippi Braves 5, (4-1) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 2
- Braden Shewmake, SS: 2-4
- Trey Harris, RF: 3-4
- Shea Langeliers, C: 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI
- Victor Vodnik, SP: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
- Luis Mora, RP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Mississippi finally in the win column in 2021, with an offensive explosion from Shea Langeliers leading the team to a victory. Mississippi had a couple of hits early, one in the first inning from Trey Harris and another from Drew Lugbauer in the second, but they could not do anything with that. They broke through in the fourth inning, with the three biggest prospects on the team leading the way. Braden Shewmake took advantage of an infield single and poor throw by the pitcher to get to second base, and a Trey Harris base hit had the Braves in prime position with no outs. Shea Langeliers grounded out to second base, but a throwing error still brought in Shewmake for the game’s first run. Langeliers crushed one in the sixth inning for his first home run of the season to give Mississippi a two run lead that unfortunately did not last long. Pensacola tied the game in the seventh inning, but once again in the 8th the guys at the top of the order came through. Shewmake and Harris had hits to lead off the 8th inning and then Shea Langeliers hit his second home run of the game to break it wide open and give Mississippi a 5-2 lead they would not relinquish.
Here comes the boom! @Langeliers23 smashes his first Double-A homer to give the M-Braves a 2-0 lead in the 6th! pic.twitter.com/WNhQOk2cWR
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) May 9, 2021
Make it ✌️ HR's for @Langeliers23!
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) May 9, 2021
His 3-run blast makes it 5-2 M-Braves heading to the 9th! pic.twitter.com/tzZUFOkYOp
Victor Vodnik was pitching on fire for Mississippi in his first Double-A start, shutting out the Blue Wahoos across his four innings. Not without trouble though, he did allow some baserunner in each inning he pitched. A single in the first was no trouble as he struck out the final batter of the inning, but a leadoff second inning walk was going to be more of a test. He bounced back with a strikeout, then after a fly out to center field allowed a base hit but the left fielder had Vodnik’s back and threw out the runner trying to go first to third to escape the inning. Vodnik allowed two free passes with a man down in the third inning but got two swinging strikeouts to finish out the frame with no runs across. He got around a fourth inning single as well to finish off his start. Vodnik sat between 94-98 in the game. Luis Mora was everything we’ve come to expect Luis Mora to be, as he only threw 19 strikes on 37 pitches, but worked around three walks because the Blue Wahoos could not make good contact off of him. Mora struck out three batters in 1 2⁄3 innings. Sean McLaughlin finished out Mora’s sixth inning, but a clean frame in the seventh went haywire. He walked the first two batters he faced and while he almost managed to work around it by striking out the next two batters he just couldn’t and a two out double tied the game at two runs each. Troy Bacon finished the last two innings of the game needing only 19 total pitches to get through them
Next Game: 5/9 vs (4-1) Pensacola Blue Wahoos @ 3:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
MIS:TBD
PNS: Will Stewart
(4-1) Rome Braves 3, (1-4) Winston-Salem Dash 1
- Michael Harris, CF: 1-4, RBI
- Logan Brown, C: 1-4, RBI
- Jesse Franklin, RF: 2-4, RBI
- Indigo Diaz, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. 2.08 ERA
- Kasey Kalich, RP: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
Rome scraped together three runs from their offense, and pulled off a fantastic bullpen game to limit the Dash to just one. The Braves had a scoring opportunity early in the second inning as Jesse Franklin led off with a double and stole third base with one out. A ground out was not enough to score him from third, and a strikeout ended the inning stranding him in a tie game. They did come through in the third inning as hits from Cody Milligan and Riley Delgado set up Logan Brown with two outs, and he lined a hit into right field for the first run of the game. The top of the order got rolling again in the fifth inning, with Andrew Moritz singling and stealing second base to set them up with a scoring opportunity. Michael Harris cashed that in with an RBI single, and then he stole second base and scored on a hit from Jesse Franklin. Cody Milligan has reached base in every game this season and in 10 of his 20 plate appearances.
Rome Braves legend Alan Rangel was the starter for this game, and he did his job with a couple of scoreless innings. Rangel retired the first five batters he faced before a single and then a throwing error put him in a bit of trouble in the second inning. No problem for him though as he got a fly out to end the inning. Coleman Huntley had the assignment for the next few innings and started out much the same with a perfect first inning. Then a leadoff single and an error by Huntley himself put him into a mess in the fourth, but he got a ground out and a double play to escape unscathed. Huntley struggled in the fifth inning after getting the first out and was pulled from the game with runners on second and third. Indigo Diaz put out that fire by striking out two batters around a walk that loaded the bases and he protected a three run Braves lead. Diaz struck out two more in a perfect sixth, but allowed a leadoff walk in the seventh that came in to score when Kasey Kalich allowed a couple of hits and a walk. Before we get to Kalich’s outing, Diaz has been phenomenal for the Braves in his first two starts with a Webbian 10 strikeouts in 4 1⁄3 innings. He has now 25 strikeouts in 14 2⁄3 innings and a .189 batting average against. Kalich struggled off the rip for Rome with a double, a walk, and then a single but he was bailed out by Shean Michel throwing out a runner at home. Kalich then forced a ground out to escape with the lead intact and finished off two quiet innings to earn a 2 2⁄3 innings save and give Rome their fourth win of the season.
Next Game: 5/9 @ (1-4) Winston-Salem Dash 2:00 PM ET
Probable Starters
ROM: TBD
WS: TBD
(3-2) Augusta GreenJackets 13, (2-3) Columbia Fireflies 2
- Vaughn Grissom, SS: 2-4, 2 RBI
- Willie Carter, RF: 3-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI
- Ricardo Rodriguez: 4-5, HR, 3 RBI
- Joey Estes, SP: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 3.38 ERA
- Peyton Williams, RP: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2.25 ERA
An eight run first inning sparked a huge Augusta blowout and moved them back above .500 on the season. The GreenJackets were off to the races in the first inning with Drew Campbell leading off the inning with a base hit. Vaughn Grissom scored Campbell and the game’s first run and after a single from Landon Stephens the GreenJackets were in business for Willie Carter. All Carter did was absolutely mash a three run home run to break the game open. Braulio Basquez was hit by a pitch and then scored on a double from Ricardo Rodriguez and then the Braves added three more singles in a row to extend the lead to 7-0. Finally, Campbell - the leadoff hitter - made the first out of the game in his second at bat. And then in a bizarre play Vaughn Grissom was picked off by running to early, which scored Birdsong, and then Grissom was able to scamper back into first base safely giving Birdsong a steal of home. The GreenJackets added RBI hits from Bryson Horne and Willie Carter in the second and third innings, respectively. In the sixth inning Ricardo Rodriguez crushed one the opposite way for his first home run of the season. Rodriguez has five hits in three games this season and four of those hits have gone for extra bases. Rodriguez tacked on another run in the eighth inning with his fourth hit of the game - an RBI double that scored Carter.
Willie Carter, mammoth home run and bat deposit pic.twitter.com/RAC7IYePC9
— Atlanta Braves Farm System Updates (@BravesMILB) May 9, 2021
Joey Estes made his full season debut for Augusta with a hot and cold performance. He came out firing with two strikeouts and a ground out back to the pitcher in the first inning, and then went off in the second by striking out the side in order. For those counting at home, six up and six down with five strikeouts. Then things went wacky in the third after a leadoff single. Estes balked the runner to second and then to third base, then was bailed out when he sailed a ball to the backstop that ricocheted to Rodriguez who then threw to Estes covering home for the first out. Estes allowed a home run to that batter, then three walks surrounding his sixth strikeout before he was pulled from the game. Peyton Williams came in in relief and was phenomenal over three shutout innings, striking out four batters and walking nobody. Zach Seipel was not so fortunate. He replaced Williams with one out in the sixth, then allowed a double, two walks, hit a batter, and threw two wild pitches. He somehow escaped all of that with only one run allowed. Ben Thompson pitched two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and Justin Yeager closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning and a couple of strikeouts.
Next Game: 5/9 vs (2-3) Columbia Fireflies @ 2:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
AUG: TBD
COL: TBD