It was nearly an organizational sweep for the Atlanta Braves on Friday evening. Not only did the big league squad win their rain-delayed matchup, but their minor league affiliates went 4-1 with the lone loss being a blowout one in the second half of Rome’s doubleheader with Hickory. A tip of the hat to the Mississippi pitching staff that came within three outs of throwing another no-hitter. Lets get into the games.
Gwinnett Stripers 6, Durham Bulls 4
- Cristian Pache, CF: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .787 OPS
- Johan Camargo, 1B: 3-4, 3B, 3 R, .932 OPS
- William Contreras, C: 1-3, BB, R, 1.039 OPS
- Kyle Wright, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, 3.64 ERA
Kyle Wright got knocked around a bit early in the game, but he settled down enough to go five innings and the Gwinnett offense picked him up late in the Stripers’ 6-4 win. If you don’t know what to make of Kyle Wright even on a night to night basis, you are not alone as his maddening inconsistency has continued this season. That said, he has gone five straight starts allowing two earned runs or less, but even in those starts, he has been fairly uneven. Mitch Horacek, Dylan Lee, and Tanner Roark then combined to throw three scoreless innings. Victor Arano got the call to close it out and while things got way more interesting than they needed to be including giving up a run in the inning, he was able to get the game’s final three outs.
Cristian Pache Ground Rule Double
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) August 14, 2021
Stripers: 4 Bulls: 3 pic.twitter.com/cpnvLYzOBw
On offense, it was a fairly well-rounded effort with four different players driving in runs for the Stripers. Ryan Goins provided the lone home run on the evening for Gwinnett in the form of a two-run shot in the eighth inning. Johan Camargo had a three hit evening including a triple and Sean Kazmar hit a two-run single that got Gwinnett back in the game early. Cristian Pache continued to make progress with a two hit night including an opposite field ground rule double. He has really made strides with his swing of late and is much quicker to the ball than he was earlier in the season. In the month of August, Pache is slashing .371/.436/.743 which seems pretty good.
Mississippi Braves 4, Biloxi Shuckers 1
- Jacob Pearson, CF: 1-2, HR, 4 RBI, .563 OPS
- Shea Langeliers, C: 1-4, R, .880 OPS
- Victor Vodnik, SP: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 5.35 ERA
Mississippi came within three outs of throwing yet another no-hitter this season, but the Braves had to settle for a convincing 4-1 win over Biloxi. It has been a bit of an up and down season for Victor Vodnik between his injury and occasionally getting knocked around, but when he is on....he is ON. Friday was one of the really good days as he threw five no-hit innings with nine strikeouts. Odalvi Javier and Daysbel Hernandez were able to continue the no-hit bid through the eighth inning (Daysbel did give up three walks in his inning of work, though). Unfortunately, Brooks Wilson (who has been awesome for Mississippi this year) saw the no-hitter come to an end as he gave up an absolute tank of a solo home run to the first batter he saw in the ninth....thereby ending the shutout as well. The rest of the inning went by without incident, though, and Mississippi secured another win.
On offense, there wasn’t much to talk about honestly except for Jacob Pearson’s night at the plate. His three-run homer in the second inning provided the bulk of Mississippi’s offense in the game and his sac fly in the fourth accounted for the other run. The only other extra-base hit for the Braves on Friday was a double from Jalen Miller. Mississippi did have eight hits in the game, but mostly scattered them with Pearson’s bomb being a notable exception.
Rome Braves 5, Hickory Crawdads 4 - Game One
- Michael Harris, CF: 2-4, RBI
- Brett Langhorne, 1B: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI
- Luke Waddell, 3B: 1-3, BB, 2 R
- Darius Vines, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3.83 ERA
Rome Braves 0, Hickory Crawdads 11 - Game Two
- Shean Michel, RF/CF: 1-3, .620 OPS
- Riley Delgado, 3B: 1-3, .585 OPS
- Coleman Huntley, SP: 4 IP, 8 H, 5 R (4 ER), 0 BB, 5 K, 5.12 ERA
The Rome Braves got to play two on Friday and managed to split the twin bill with a 5-4 win and an 11-0 rout of a loss. Darius Vines got the start in the first game and while he flirted with danger at times, he still managed to go deep into the ballgame and keep Rome in it. If Vines were able to add a tick more velo to his fastball, he could see his stock jump up in a hurry. As for the second game started by Coleman Huntley...well, at least they tried. Huntley got knocked around early and when Gabriel Noguera came in, things got significantly worse and that was that.
Game one was a fun one as it ended up going to extra innings which, as it was game one of a doubleheader, meant that it was going to be a long day for the players and those that cover them. Michael Harris had a couple of hits and a key RBI in extra innings and Brett Langhorne had a big knock in the game with a two-run shot in the second inning. Ultimately, though, the winning run for Rome would not come on a hit, but on a wild pitch as Luke Waddell sprinted home in the top of the eighth inning for an insurance run that proved to be pivotal.
Augusta GreenJackets 5, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2
- Vaughn Grissom, DH: 2-3, 3B, BB, .842 OPS
- Cam Shepherd, 2B: 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, .534 OPS
- Andrew Hoffman, SP: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Andrew Hoffman was excellent in his second appearance as a pro as the GreenJackets coasted to a 5-2 win over Kannapolis. After a perfectly reasonable organizational debut last week, Hoffman turned things up a notch recording six strikeouts through three innings of work. We have heard good things about Hoffman from within the Braves organization, so make sure to keep an eye on him. Other than an unearned run off of Ben Thompson in the sixth, the Augusta bullpen held firm against Kannapolis and made it as a fairly straightforward and easy win.
On offense, multi-hit nights from Vaughn Grissom, Stephen Paolini, and Cam Shepherd led the way. Shepherd was particularly good as he had a two-run homer in the fifth inning that helped put the game out of reach. It has been a pretty rough season at the plate for Cam, so it was nice to see him have a good game. Cade Bunnell also had a good night as he had a two-run shot of his own in the third inning when Augusta was establishing themselves early. If you had Cade being one of the best hitters on Augusta’s roster this year, you get a cookie.