The young Atlanta Braves affiliates went 1-4 on Thursday night. It was a night that the opponents scored many runs and the Braves minor leaguers, well, not so many. Two of the Braves top prospects continued their hot July’s as Drew Waters and William Contreras hit home runs.
Here’s how it went down Thursday night on the Braves’ farm.
(34-35) Gwinnett Stripers 8, (25-40) Norfolk Tides 1
- Drew Waters, LF: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, .252 BA, .760 OPS
- Cristian Pache, CF: 1-for-5, 2 RBI, .239 BA, .700 OPS
- William Contreras, DH: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, .405, 1.337 OPS
- Jasseel De La Cruz, SO: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R 0 BB, 5 K
The Stripers pulled in the lone win on Thursday night and at least it was a dominating one. Jasseel De La Cruz looks as if he has turned a corner after a horrid May. Though he still hasn’t gone more than four innings in a start this month, he’s now allowed just one earned run since July 4. He also struck out five and walked none after walking 10 in his previous three starts. Tanner Roark tossed two scoreless, while Jesse Biddle, Yoan Lopez and Jacob Webb tossed the last three, allowing one run.
Hello glorious opposite field, leadoff home run from Drew Waters. #Braves pic.twitter.com/0QHuxNLMHE
— Wayne Cavadi (@UofDWayne) July 22, 2021
Drew Waters started the scoring with an opposite field, leadoff home run and the Stripers were off to the races. William Contreras, Sean Kazmar, Jr. and Yolmer Sanchez all contributed to the home run brigade. Contreras has simply been in a zone since his return, extending his hitting streak to nine with five home runs over that span.
(40-29) Mississippi Braves 4, (21-45) Biloxi Shuckers 5
- Wendell Rijo, SS: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, .250, .790 OPS
- Bryce Elder, SP: 7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K
- Brooks Wilson, RP, 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
It wasn’t pretty for Bryce Elder last night, but he did go seven innings for the third-consecutive start, landing 63 of his 89 pitches for strikes. Elder is going to toss many shutouts — all though he is part of a combined no-hitter this season — and he will walk quite a few — with 11 in four July starts — but he is proving to be a reliable innings-eating Bulldog for the M-Braves. Brooks Wilson bounced back from his worst outing since May with two scoreless. His ERA is down to 2.15 on the season.
Wendell Rijo provided the offense, with a seventh-inning, three-run bomb. Greyson Jenista scored two of the M-Braves for runs without registering a hit. Trey Harris recorded a hit and has now hit in 13 of 16 July games amid an impressive turnaround.
(33-36) Rome Braves 2, (48-21) Bowling Green Hot Rods 6
- Michael Harris II, CF: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB, .286 BA, .747 OPS
- Logan Brown, C: 1-for-4, 1 2B, .227 BA, .602 OPS
- Mitch Stallings, SP: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 7 K
There was not much offense to go around in Rome last night. Michael Harris had another hit as he continues his fine season. He’s now slashing .286/.323/.424 and picked up his 15th stolen base of the season. Brett Langhorne picked up the other RBI on a sacrifice fly while Logan Brown, Rusber Estrada, Kevin Josephina and Andrew Moritz each logged a hit.
Mitch Stallings tied his season high with seven strikeouts and has just walked three batters in July, which is much improved from previous months. He still must bring down that WHIP — currently sitting at 1.58 — and find more consistency in keeping runners from scoring. Davis Schwab and Zach Daniels pitched the final three frames allowing three runs on six walks.
(28-40) Augusta GreenJackets, (34-32) Columbia Fireflies
Let’s play two!
Game 1: Columbia 12, Augusta 2 BOX SCORE
- Bryson Horne, 1B: 1-for-3, 1 R, .251 BA, .681 OPS
- Willie Carter, RF: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, .289 BA, .805 OPS
- Roddery Munoz, SP: 2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Game 2: Columbia 16, Augusta 5 BOX SCORE
- Cade Bunnell, 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, .225 BA, .837 OPS
- Jose Bermudez, 2-for-3, 1 R, .188 BA,.464 OPS
- Rolddy Munoz, SP: 1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
The GreenJackets are mired in pitching slump as they have allowed 71 runs in their last five games. Yesterday saw 28 more cross the plate in 14 innings. The Munoz brothers started Game 1 and 2, neither to the results they were hoping for. Nine GreenJackets pitched in the double header yesterday, seven of which allowed three or more runs. Cody Birdsong, normally an infielder, made his third appearance of the season, allowing his first two runs. Since both were unearned, his ERA remains a 0.00.
Bryson Horne had three hits on the night, with a two-hit game in the nightcap, driving in his 25th and 26th runs of the season. Victor De Hoyas and Stephen Paolini provided the power supply with home runs in Game 2. Vaughn Grissom only played the night cap and had a hit and scored a run, while Cade Bunnell continued his extra-base king performance with another double.