Terdoslavich Takes Demotion In Stride, Gilmartin Dazzles, Cunningham Keeps On HItting, And Drury Extends Streak In Tuesday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action

Joey Terdoslavich was demoted to AA Mississippi, but it might have just been the thing to get his bat going, Sean Gilmartin had a dazzling start, and Todd Cunningham and Brandon Drury stayed hot. The Dominican Summer League started this past Saturday and we'll update you on the 2 games they've already played.

Gwinnett Braves 1, Lehigh Valley 10

• Ernesto Mejia 1B 1-3, HR (9), RBI, .319 AVG
• Ruben Gotay 3B 1-3, .333 AVG
• Todd Redmond 3.2 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 3.52 ERA
• Jaye Chapman 1.1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 B, 1 K, 2.92 ERA

Todd Redmond had his worst start of the season, allowing 7 earned runs without making it out of the fourth inning. He had only allowed 7 earned runs in 33.2 innings over his last 5 starts. The one bright spot for Redmond was that he only allowed 1 walk, and he's shown improved control this year, averaging 2.1 BB/9 and 3.9 K/BB this season after allowing 2.6 BB/9 and 2.8 K/BB in his first three AAA seasons. Gwinnett managed only 2 hits today, with their lone run coming from Ernesto Mejia's ninth homer of the year. In his last 10 games, Mejia is hitting .400 with a .965 OPS, 3 doubles, a homer, and 6 RBI. He is currently second in the league in batting average (.319) and hits (66), third in RBI (42), tied for third in extra bases (110), tied for fourth in doubles (15), eighth in slugging (.531), and tenth in homers (9) and OPS (.905). Today the Braves acquired Ruben Gotay from the Blue Jays for cash, marking his third time in the organization after playing for Gwinnett last season and Richmond and Atlanta in 2008, hitting .235 with a .665 in 88 games for Atlanta that season. The 29 year old has played for the Braves, Mets, and Royals in the Majors, hitting .255 with a .685 OPS in 811 total plate appearances, and will mostly play third base for Gwinnett. This year with the Las Vegas 51s, he hit .346 with a .819 OPS in 92 plate appearances.

Yohan Flande will face the Iron Pigs tomorrow.

Mississippi Braves 5, Huntsville Stars 1

• Phil Gosselin 2B 2-3, BB, SB (9), .266 AVG
• Joey Terdoslavich 1B 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI, .400 AVG
• Todd Cunningham CF 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .335 AVG
• Sean Gilmartin 8 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K, W (4), 3.16 ERA
• Andrew Russell 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 1.73 ERA

The reason the Braves acquired Gotay to be Gwinnett's third baseman was that they demoted Joey Terdoslavich to Mississippi, and moved him back to first base. Terdo took the demotion in stride, rapping out a pair of hits, including one of his trademark doubles, and driving in a pair of runs. Hopefully, he'll be able to regain his confidence and batting stroke in AA, and possibly find himself back in AAA before the end of the season. Todd Cunningham followed up yesterday's 3 hit performance with another one, going 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI for the second straight day. Over his last 10 games, he's hit .471 with a 1.103 OPS, raising his batting average from .301 to .335 and his OPS from .705 to .791. Phil Gosselin had a 2 hit day, and in his last 10 games he's hitting .314 with a .771 OPS. Sean Gilmartin had an outstanding start, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and a walk over 8 innings, striking out 6. The lefty, who was the Braves first round selection in last year's draft, has deftly handled the challenges of AA this year, putting up a 3.16 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, and 3.2 K/BB in 77 innings over 12 starts, tossing 3 complete games in the process. Those 3 complete games lead the league, no one else has thrown 2, and he also leads the league in innings, is sixth in WHIP, and is tied for eighth in strikeouts (58). Andrew Russell made his ninth straight scoreless appearance, and in that span he's struck out 8, walked 2, and allowed 6 hits over 10.2 innings.

David Hale will start the series finale tomorrow.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 5

• Adam Milligan DH 1-4, 2B, BB, .266 AVG
• Chris Garcia 1B 1-3, BB, .332 AVG
• David Rohm RF 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .265 AVG
• Braeden Schlehuber C 1-4, HR (6), 2 RBI, .267 AVG
• Gus Schlosser 6 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 4.20 ERA
• Chasen Shrever 3 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 1.76 ERA

Braeden Schlehuber set a new career high with his sixth homer of the year, and over his last 3 games, he's gone 3-11 with a triple, a homer, and 2 RBI. David Rohm drove in the team's other 2 runs with a double, though he's struggled since returning from the DL, going 4-23 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI, and 10 strikeouts in 9 games. Adam Milligan doubled today, but he also struck out 3 times in the game, giving him 27 in 64 at bats with Lynchburg. He's striking out in 42% of his at bats with the Hillcats, which is an increase over the already high 37% he was striking out with Mississippi before his demotion. Gus Schlosser struck out 8 in 6 innings of work, but he also allowed 4 earned runs. He's allowed 8 earned runs in 11 innings in his last 2 starts, after allowing 3 earned runs in 21 innings over his previous 3 starts. Chasen Shreve struck out 4 over 3 scoreless innings, his sixth straight scoreless appearance. Over that span he's struck out 10, walked 4, and allowed 7 hits in 9.2 innings.

The Hillcats have now lost 8 games in a row. With 14 games to go before the end of the first half, including a pair of doubleheaders this weekend, they have a half game lead over Wilmington in the Northern Division. Dimasther Delgado will start tomorrow, hoping to get the Cats back in the win column.

Rome Braves 5, Greenville Braves 3

• Tony Mueller CF 3-4, 2 RBI, 2 SB (12, 13), .241 AVG
• Sergio Miranda 2B 1-3, 3B, BB, .200 AVG
• Kyle Kubitza DH 1-2, RBI, 2 BB, .238 AVG
• Will Skinner RF 1-4, HR (5), RBI, .266 AVG
• Brandon Drury 3B 2-4, HR (2), RBI, .181 AVG
• Rafael Briceno 6 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K, W (3), 5.90 ERA
• Jarrett Miller 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 4.32 ERA
• Ryne Harper 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (5), 4.32 ERA

Tony Mueller had a great day at the plate, rapping out 3 singles, driving in a pair of runs and stealing a pair of bases. Over his last 10 games, he's hit .333 with a .778 OPS. The right handed hitter has excelled against lefties this year, hitting .361 with a .828 OPS in 36 at bats, but has struggled against righties, hitting just .200 with a .479 OPS in 105 at bats. Brandon Drury had a pair of hits, including his second homer of the year, extending his hitting streak to 5 games, going 6-22 with 2 doubles, a homer, and 3 RBI in that span. Will Skinner hit his fifth homer of the year, and in his last 7 games he's gone 9-28 with 3 doubles, a homer, and 6 RBI. Kyle Kubitza drove in a run and reached base 3 times, improving his season OBP to .364. Rafael Briceno had an awful May, going 0-4 with a 8.26 ERA and a 2.08 WHIP in 28.1 innings over 6 starts, but he started June strong today with a quality start, striking out 4 while allowing 3 runs, 2 earned, in 6 innings. Jarrett Miller struck out 2 in 2 scoreless innings, and in his last 2 appearances he's struck out 8 over 6 scoreless innings. Ryne Harper picked up his fifth save of the year by striking out all 3 batters he faced in the ninth, a nice comeback after allowing 6 earned runs in 4.1 innings over his last 2 appearances. For the year, the 23 year old has struck out 41 in 25 innings, a 14.8 K/9 rate.

David Filak and Navery Moore were named to the South Atlantic League All-Star game. Moore has a 3-2 record, a 3.25 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 52.2 innings over 11 appearances, 9 starts. Filak is 2-5 with a 4.58 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP in 55 innings over 11 starts, though through his first 9 starts he was 2-3 with a 2.08 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 47.2 innings.

Filak will start against Greenville tomorrow.

***Dominican Summer League Update***

The DSL actually started last Saturday, and the team has played 2 games already. I'll put the highlights here and from now on their games will be on the regular recaps.

DSL Braves 5, DSL Brewers 1, June 2nd

• Victor Reyes DH 2-4, RBI, .500 AVG
• Ibrahim McKenzie 1B 2-4, .500 AVG
• Carlos Castro C 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, .500 AVG
• Daniel Cordero 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 1.80 ERA
• Jose Rosario 3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1), 0.00 ERA

DSL Braves 5, DSL Tigers 2, June 4th

• Omar Obregon SS 1-1, 2 BB, 2 SB (2, 3), HBP, SAC, .333 AVG
• Johan Camargo 3B 2-5, .286 AVG
• Victor Reyes DH 3-5, 2 RBI, .556 AVG
• Miguel Rivero RF 2-4, 2B, .333 AVG
• Carlos Castro C 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 E (1, 2), .500 AVG
• Michael Flores 4 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 2.25 ERA
• Jorge Zavala 3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA

The DSL Braves won both of their game, with designated hitter Victor Reyes leading the offense. The 17 year old Venezuelan combined to go 5-9 with 3 RBI in the 2 games. 18 year old Dominican catcher Carlos Castro also hit well, combining to go 4-8 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI, though he did make 2 errors in the second game. Omar Obregon, a 18 year old Nicaraguan shortstop, showed his prowess as a leadoff hitter, reaching base 5 times in 9 plate appearances and stealing 3 bases. Venezuelan Righty Daniel Cordero, who turns 19 tomorrow, started the first game, allowing just 1 earned run and striking out 5 while walking none in 5 innings. 18 year old Dominican righty Jose Rosario, who tossed 17 innings in the DSL last year, pitched 3 scoreless relief innings for the win. Michael Flores, a 19 year old Dominican who pitched 34.2 innings in the DSL last year, started the second game, allowing 1 run in 4 innings, and Honduran righty Jorge Zavala, who will turn 18 later this week, picked up the win in relief, striking out 4 over 3 scoreless innings.

The DSL Braves take on the DSL Blue Jays Wednesday afternoon.