Stefan Gartrell keeps on smashing baseballs, Joe Leonard powered Mississippi to victory, Northcraft twirled a beauty against Winston-Salem in a losing effort, and De Los Santos went deep twice in two games for Rome.
Gwinnett Braves 3, Buffalo Bison 5
- Stefan Gartrell, LF: 2-4, 2B, HR(9), 2 RBI, .264
- Ernesto Mejia, 1B: 2-4, HR(6), .302
- Yohan Flande, SP: 4.2 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 4.46 ERA
- Jason Rice, RP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 3.06 ERA
- Anthony Varvaro, RP: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 3.38 ERA
Stefan Gartrell continues to punish baseballs, as he smoked another home run today against the Bison. He and Ernesto Mejia went back to back in the first inning to give Gwinnett an early 3-0 lead. Unfortunately, that lead would be short-lived as Yohan Flande imploded once again. After his stellar start, the luster is quickly wearing off of Flande, as he's been shelled in back to back outings. Flande allowed 12 baserunners over 4.2 innings en route to giving up 5 runs. He only managed one strikeout in the game. To be fair to Flande, he wasn't scheduled to pitch til tomorrow, so moving him up a day may have thrown him off. Gwinnett's pen continued it's strong work, as Jason Rice and Anthony Varvaro combined for 3.1 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts.
Gwinnett opens a 4 game set with Rochester tonight and Eric Junge will take the hill.
Tennessee Smokies 2, Mississippi Braves 4
- Joe Leonard, 3B: 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI, .250
- Christian Bethancourt, C: 2-3, .276
- Andrelton Simmons, SS: 1-4, RBI, .285
- Gary Moran, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 3.26 ERA
- Luis Avilan, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 2.95 ERA
Joe Leonard was a one-man wrecking crew tonight going 2-4 and driving in 3 of Mississippi's 4 runs with a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the 4th inning. Christian Bethancourt has wasted no time since being activated from the DL, rapping out a two hit day as well. Evan Gattis didn't get a hit in this game, going 0-3, but he was hit by a pitch and scored on Leonard's double. Gary Moran was great on the mound tonight, allowing only 4 baserunners in 6 innings while striking out 3. Luis Avilan was just as good, pitching 2 perfect innings with 5 punchouts to slam the door on the Smokies.
Jose Lugo starts tomorrow for Tennessee.
Lynchburg Hillcats 1, Winston-Salem Dash 2
- Nick Ahmed, SS: 2-4, R, .259
- Chris Garcia, 1B: 1-4, RBI, .349
- Tommy La Stella, 2B: 1-3, 2 BB, .301
- Aaron Northcraft, SP: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 2.82 ERA
Lynchburg opened a series with Winston-Salem today and struggled to get anything going on offense. The Hillcats only mustered 6 hits in this one, with two of them coming from Nick Ahmed. Ahmed had been 1-21 prior to today, so hopefully this game gets him back on track. Tommy La Stella just keeps on doing his thing, reaching base 3 times tonight. Aaron Northcraft turned in a fantastic start, going 7 strong and only allowing 1 run on 5 hits and a walk. He punched out 4, but only managed a no decision. Lynchburg lost when Chasen Shreve gave up a run in the bottom of the 8th.
Cody Martin takes the hill for the second game against Winston-Salem tomorrow.
Rome Braves 3, Charleston RiverDogs 2 - Game 1 (10 Innings)
- William Beckwith, DH: 2-4, RBI, .300
- Fernando De Los Santos, 2B: 2-4, HR(3), .248
- Ernesto Silva, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 7.02 ERA
- Ryan Weber, RP: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 2.70 ERA
The R-Braves and RiverDogs continued a game that had been suspended earlier in the year, and Rome won thanks to some stellar pitching. Ernesto Silva started tonight and went 6 strong innings, allowing only 1 run and 6 baserunners while striking out three. Ryan Weber one-upped him, however, hurling 4 innings of 1 hit ball with no walks and three strikeouts. A William Beckwith RBI tied the game late and Fernando De Los Santos hit the game--winning shot in the top of the 10th inning.
Rome Braves 5, Charleston RiverDogs 10
- Fernando De Los Santos, 2B: 1-4, HR(4), .248
- William Beckwith, 1B: 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R, .302
- Greg Ross, SP: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 K, 6.75 ERA
After a great first game, De Los Santos and Beckwith stayed hot. De Los Santos blasted his second homer of the doubleheader, while Beckwith went 2-3 with a 2 RBI double and a run scored. Other than that, Rome couldn't muster much offense and the pitching needed a bunch of it. Every Rome pitcher allowed at least 2 runs, with starter Greg Ross giving up 7 hits and 2 walks over 3.2 innings. Ross' defense didn't do him any favors, allowing two unearned runs, but Ross was far too hittable tonight to prove effective.
Rafael Briceno pitches tomorrow against Charleston.