It was a...day in the Atlanta Braves minor league system. Dylan Dodd made his debut for Augusta and Vaughn Grissom had three hits and a walk but that bullpen had a notable collapse in a blowout. Offense was really limited from top to bottom, with Freddy Tarnok taking a loss in a game he didn’t allow a single earned run in. Michael Harris had another strong game for Rome, showing off his improved plate discipline that has helped him down the stretch.
(55-41) Gwinnett Stripers 3, (38-57) Louisville Bats 5
- Johan Camargo, 3B: 1-4, RBI, .310/.386/.526
- Travis Demeritte, RF: 0-3, BB, .304/.408/.632
- Drew Waters, CF: 0-4, .247/.344/.397
- Tanner Roark, SP: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 2.40 ERA
- Sean Newcomb, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2.08 ERA
Gwinnett did not have a lot of offensive success Sunday afternoon, recording only two hits in the game. They were down 5-0 before even putting a runner on first base, but when they did get someone on they took advantage quickly. Travis Demeritte walked to lead off the top of the fifth inning and two batters later Ryan Casteel hit a two run home run that brought the game within kicking distance. Johan Camargo tacked on a run in the sixth inning on an RBI single, bringing the Stripers within two runs with nine outs to go. Two Stripers drew walks in the seventh inning to put the tying run on base, but they never could come through with the hit to put them over the top. They went down in order in the 8th and 9th, sealing the game and snapping a five game winning streak.
Ryan "Weight Room" Casteel goes deep to get us onto the scoreboard!
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) August 22, 2021
Stripers: 2 Bats: 5 pic.twitter.com/qElIDtMD3Q
Gwinnett used the bullpen to get through this game and one particular bad inning from one of the relievers spelled doom for the entire game. Tanner Roark got the start and while he allowed two hits and two walks over his two innings of work he was able to wiggle out of trouble and walked away with scoreless innings. Thomas Burrows was the first pitcher out of the bullpen and he struggled significantly with his command, allowing a walk and throwing two wild pitches that eventually led to an RBI ground out that gave Louisville the lead. Jay Flaa was even worse and got into big trouble with his control problems. A single led off the bottom of the fourth and then two walks from Flaa loaded the bases with no outs. An error brought in the first run before a two run single really broke things open to push it to 4-0. Flaa then walked two more batters in the inning to force in a fourth run before he was replaced by Connor Johnstone.
Johnstone only faced the one batter and ended the inning with the bases loaded. Dylan Lee was dominant in his inning and struck out the side in order on 12 pitches. Trevor Kelley pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts and Jacob Webb worked around a hit and a walk with two strikeouts of his own to keep it scoreless in the seventh. Sean Newcomb pitched the final inning and walked a batter, but he struck out the other three to stay scoreless and lower his ERA to 2.08. Newcomb has a 1.23 FIP at Triple-A this season and that walk was only the second he has allowed in 13 innings.
Next Game: 8/24 @ (52-44) Nashville Sounds @ 8:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
GWN: TBD
NAS: TBD
(57-38) Mississippi Braves 1, (50-44) Montgomery Biscuits 2 Game 1
- Justin Dean, CF: 2-2, HBP .235/.348/.357
- Braden Shewmake, SS: 0-2, .236/.278/.411
- Shea Langeliers, C: 0-3, .265/.343/.516
- Freddy Tarnok, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2.64 ERA
- Matt Withrow, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2.56 ERA
Justin Dean was the only Mississippi player who recorded a hit in game one as they lost 2-1. Dean led off in the first inning with a single and stole second base to put himself in scoring position, but the three batters behind him all struck out to strand him. Dean’s third innings single also turned up empty, but when he was hit by a pitch in the 6th the Braves were finally able to push a run across. On a wild pitch the catcher could not find the ball immediately and Dean was able to use his speed to get all the way to third base on the play. Jalen Miller lifted a fly ball to center field and Dean easily tagged on the play and scored Mississippi’s first and only run. The more important news came on the injury front as Braden Shewmake had to leave this game early after a couple of errors and two strikeouts. After the second of his two errors in the bottom of the second he seemed to come up a bit shaky, and on a strikeout in the third he was clearly in pain after taking a big swing and miss on strike three. Hopefully he won’t miss much or any time, but he did appear to be suffering from an injury.
.@Langeliers23 could throw out runners in his sleep
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) August 22, 2021
He makes it look too easy
We head to the 4th trailing 2-0 pic.twitter.com/J3zFV5M6Yl
Freddy Tarnok wasn’t on his game as his offspeed stuff wasn’t wholly effective throughout, but he still put overall a decent start out. He allowed a hit and a runner on an error in the first inning, but forced three easy fly balls that ended the inning. He was not able to work around the trouble in the second inning with a single and an error putting two runners on with no outs. Tarnok then threw a wild pitch to put both in scoring position. Tarnok came close to getting out of it with the help of a strikeout and a phenomenal defensive play from Drew Lugbauer, but he allowed a two out single that scored both runs and ultimately led to the loss. He got through the fifth inning with no more runs allowed, allowing only two more hits. Matt Withrow covered the sixth inning and didn’t allow a hit or run while striking out a batter.
GLOVEBAUER strikes again!!@DrewLugs lays out in foul territory for this WEB GEM pic.twitter.com/mtLvJifHJQ
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) August 22, 2021
(58-38) Mississippi Braves 5, (51-44) Montgomery Biscuits 3 Game 2
- Justin Dean, CF: 0-4, .232/.344/.352
- Trey Harris, RF: 0-4, .250/.312/.339
- Shea Langeliers, DH: 1-3, .266/.343/.514
- Alan Rangel, SP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 3.79 ERA
- Daysbel Hernandez, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2.79 ERA
The top of the Braves order had little luck generating offense in this game but the bottom three hitters recorded five hits and 4 RBIs to lead the offense to a win. After a 1-2-3 first inning Shea Langeliers led the second inning off with his lone hit of the day and CJ Alexander followed with a double to put Mississippi in dangerous scoring range. Two sacrifice fly outs brought in both of those runs and led the Braves to an early lead. Hendrik Clementina tacked on insurance in the fifth inning by crushing a home run off of the batters eye in center field. Montgomery was able to put up a three run sixth inning to tie the game up, sending it back to the Braves with three more outs to go in regulation. The bottom of the Mississippi order got to work, with Clementina leading off with a single. Jalen Miller then doubled for his only hit, putting both runners in scoring position with no outs. That set the stage for Greyson Jenista who ripped an RBI single to score Clementina and Miller and give Mississippi a two run lead.
Hendrik Clementina adds to the lead with this 452 foot absolute to straight away centerfield pic.twitter.com/oRPAmWpyrP
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) August 22, 2021
Alan Rangel started on the mound for Mississippi, and he did not have much length in this game at all. He retired all six batters he faced and struck out two of those, but departed after just two innings and 27 pitches and turned the ball over to the bullpen. Sean McLaughlin backed him up with a scoreless third inning, and Odalvi Javier was fantastic in relief following that. Javier did allow a couple of hits, but recorded four of his five outs on strikeouts and turned the ball over to Brooks Wilson with two outs in the fifth. Wilson finished off the sixth with no trouble, but the sixth was a different story. A leadoff single and then a triple brought in Montgomery’s first run and brought the tying run to the plate with no outs. Wilson bounced back with two strikeouts on six pitches, but gave up the big hit by allowing a two-out, two-run game-tying home run. He got a strikeout to end his day. After Mississippi took the lead in the seventh they turned to Daysbel Hernandez to close out the game, and he set down the order 1-2-3 to record the save.
Next Game: 8/24 @ (49-47) Pensacola Blue Wahoos @ 7:35 PM ET
Probable Starters
MIS: TBD
PNS: TBD
(42-53) Rome Braves 0, (51-44) Greenville Drive 6
- Michael Harris, DH: 1-2, BB, .298/.350/.436
- Andrew Moritz, LF: 1-2, .287/.346/.333
- Carlos Martinez, C: 2-3, .227/.227/.273
- Mitch Stallings, SP: 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 5.88 ERA
- Trey Riley, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 2.93 ERA
It was not the cleanest of days for Rome as they were trounced in the final game of the week. They had a little bit of fight in the early stages and in the second inning got two runners on with a walk and a base hit. Nothing came of this and that was really their best chance to make a game of this one. Michael Harris had a hit in his second at bat, and also drew a walk later on in the game. Over Harris’s last 30 games he has a walk rate of 12.5% and a 123 wRC+. Jesse Franklin had the day off and the rest of the lineup didn’t do much to step up in his absence. Following the top of the seventh inning the game was called due to unplayable field conditions.
Mitch Stallings was named a replacement for Jake McSteen just a bit before game time, and Stallings really struggled in this game. Stallings allowed three hits and walked two batters in the first inning, but was able to strand the bases loaded and limit the damage to two runs. He pitched a scoreless inning in the second inning, but back-to-back doubles to lead off the third brought in the third run of the game. Davis Schwab was brought in for the fourth inning and the flood gates opened with the assistance of a one out error. With two outs in the inning Schwab allowed an RBI single and RBI triple, then balked home the final runner to double the deficit to 6-0. Schwab allowed another double in the inning, but finally recorded the third out. Benjamin Dum pitch well in relief, covering two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and no walks allowed. Trey Riley finished off with a perfect ninth inning and a strikeout.
Next Game: 8/24 vs (67-29) Bowling Green Hot Rods @ 7:35 PM ET
Probable Starters
ROM: TBD
BG: TBD
(40-56) Augusta GreenJackets 7, (59-37) Carolina Mudcats 15
- Vaughn Grissom, DH: 3-4, 3B, BB, RBI, .315/.409/.456
- Cal Conley, SS: 1-4, HR, BB, RBI, .264/.333/.396
- Willie Carter, RF: 2-3, 2 BB, RBI, .279/.380/.404
- Dylan Dodd, SP: 3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 6.00 ERA
- Dylan Spain, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
This game went fairly well for Augusta for six and a half innings, but the wheels fell off in the late innings as Carolina poured on runs. The GreenJackets had a big chance in the first inning to do early damage, with a single from Vaughn Grissom and two walks loading the bases. A strikeout ended this threat and the didn’t do much with the bats again until the fifth inning. After four the GreenJackets found themselves down 2-0, but Cal Conley cut that in half with haste by crushing a solo home run with one out in the fifth. Vaughn Grissom followed him with a triple off of the wall and the inning spiraled from there. Three of the next four batters walked to force in the tying run, and then Christian Robinson came through with a bases-clearing triple to give Augusta a 5-2 lead. Carolina bounced back in the sixth inning with two runs, but Augusta got insurance in the seventh with an RBI ground out from Robinson that scored Landon Stephens. All of this didn’t matter one bit as the Mudcats scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh and six runs in the eighth to take a commanding win.
Dylan Dodd goes to the changeup for his first professional strikeout pic.twitter.com/P1kIFMBVFf
— Atlanta Braves Farm System Updates (@BravesMILB) August 22, 2021
Dylan Dodd made his professional debut for the GreenJackets on Sunday, but it wasn’t the most exciting debut as he allowed two runs over three innings. Dodd walked the first batter he faced in the game and it was clear from the early stages that whether it be rust or just a bad day he didn’t have his best command. He was able to force a double play to stay out of trouble, the first of three for him on the day. A leadoff single led to another double play in the second inning, but things got uglier after that. He allowed three consecutive hits that scored two runs, before he recorded his only strikeout of the day to end the inning. Dodd allowed two hits to then lead off the third before getting a double play and an infield pop out to end his outing.
Dylan Spain was the first pitcher to come in to relieve Dodd and he pitched well. Spain set down all six batters he faced in the game with one strikeout and now has 8 professional innings under his belt and no runs allowed. Austin Smith came in to pitch the sixth and this is where things started to go a bit south. Smith allowed a two run home run that brought the game within a run, then was brought back out in the seventh inning. He allowed a single and a walk to lead off the inning then was pulled for Malcolm Van Buren. Van Buren struck out the first batter he faced but then allowed four consecutive walks to get himself pulled from the game. This brought in James Acuna, who walked the first two batters he faced to extend the streak to six consecutive walks. This made the game 9-6 before Acuna finally ended the inning. Fortunately the GreenJackets only allowed three walks in the bottom of the eighth, but they did give up a grand slam and six total runs.
Next Game: 8/24 @ (67-28) Charleston Riverdogs @ 7:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
AUG: TBD
CAR: TBD