Gwinnett and Rome both had huge offensive nights while Lynchburg and Rome were both rained out. Gwinnett broke out the boom sticks, clubbing five homers including two from Lance Zawadzki. Despite a bad start from David Hale, Mississippi won handily.
Gwinnett Braves 11, Pawtucket Red Sox 8
- Lance Zawadzki, 2B: 3-5, 2 HR(2,3), 4 RBI, .264
- Luis Durango, CF: 3-4, R, SB(24), .274
- Ernesto Mejia, 1B: 2-3, 2B, HR(12), 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, .319
- Josh Wilson, 3B: 2-4, HR(3), .238
- Felix Pie, RF: 1-4, HR(1), 2 RBI, .266
- Yohan Flande, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 3.90 ERA
- Buddy Carlyle, RP: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 2.23 ERA
- Anthony Varvaro, RP: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2.81 ERA
Gwinnett went ape on Pawtucket tonight, banging out 11 runs on 14 hits, including a whopping five home runs. Lance Zawadzki lead the Gwinnett attack with two for 4 RBIs. Ernesto Mejia, Josh Wilson, and Felix Pie each hit one, and for Mejia it was already his 12th of the season. Mejia added a double and a walk, and scored every time he reached base. Luis Durango also had a monster night out of the two hole, singling 3 times, scoring a run, and stealing his team-leading 24th base of the year. Yohan Flande had a solid start, going 5 innings and allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 4 men as well. Buddy Carlyle pitched well in relief, and the game seemed to be in control until Adam Russell gave up 6 hits and 4 runs to open up the 9th. Anthony Varvaro came in with 2 on and struck out the final two men of the game to preserve the win.
Kris Medlen continues his quest to stretch out for the big league club tomorrow against the Paw Sox
Mississippi Braves 14, Tennessee Smokies 7
- Joe Leonard, 3B: 3-5, 3B, 3 R, 2 RBI, .256
- Christian Bethancourt, C: 3-5, 2 R, RBI, SB(5), .256
- Barrett Kleinknecht, SS: 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, .215
- Phil Gosselin, 2B: 2-6, 2B, 2 R, RBI, .270
- Tim Smith, LF: 2-5, HR(1), 2 R, 3 RBI, .321
- David Hale, SP: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 6 BB, 4 K, 4.50 ERA
- Brett Cammons, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 8.59 ERA
The M-Braves roughed up Cubs prospect Trey McNutt, tagging him for 9 runs in the first 4 innings en rout to a 14-7 whipping of the Smokies. Joe Leonard and Tim Smith led the Mississippi attack, combining to go 5-10 with 5 RBI and 5 runs. Smith his first Mississippi homer, while Leonard hit his 2nd triple of the season. Christian Bethancout also had a great day at the plate, going 3-5 with two runs, an RBI, and his 5th steal of the year. Barrett Kleinknecht came in as a defensive replacement and continued his hot hitting, going 2-3 with a double. Kleinknecht has hit safely in 7 of his last 9 games - not bad for a utilityman. David Hale, fresh off being named to the Southern League All Star Team, had a pretty wretched outing, lasting only 4 innings while giving up 3 earned runs on 5 hits and 6 walks. Given that many baserunners, he's probably lucky he allowed that few runs. Hale has been a phenomenally inconsistent pitcher so far in his career, and you need only look at his last two starts as a microcosm of such inconsistency. Before tonight's dud, Hale's last start was 7.2 innings of 5 hit ball with no runs, 1 walk, and 11 punchouts.
Mississippi is off tomorrow before beginning a game with Jacksonville on Wednesday. Zeke Spruill will get the nod.
Carolina Mudcats at Lynchburg Hillcats - POSTPONED (RAIN)
Rome Braves at Augusta GreenJackets - POSTPONED (RAIN)
DSL Braves at DSL Blue Jays - UNREPORTED