Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 6/3

Mississippi came back from behind to plate two runs in the top of the 9th inning on a two-run David Rohm single and defeat the Biscuits, 7-6. Well-traveled veteran Mitch Atkins made his Mississippi debut after spending the first two months of the season as a member of Gwinnett, and pitched relatively well. Atkins allowed two runs in five innings of work, allowing a home run while striking out six batters. Jorge Reyes (he's not actually deaf if you're reading this, Jeff Francoeur) made his Mississippi debut after being acquired from the Padres' system, and had a bad outing, allowing a home run and three runs (only one was earned, however) in an inning of work. James Hoyt, Mississippi's new closer after the departure of Shae Simmons, allowed a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth inning, but buckled down and induced a groundout and a pair of strikeouts to save the game. Mississippi's offense was red-hot last night, with Elmer Reyes, Emerson Landoni, Joe Leonard, and David Rohm leading the way with each collecting three hits. In addition, Kyle Kubitza doubled (he was robbed of another extra-base hit in the ninth after Biscuits' centerfielder Willie Argo leaped to make a nice catch just shy of the wall), as did Myke Jones. The only M-Brave starter not to record a hit in the game was Barrett Kleinknecht. Aaron Northcraft will take the mound tonight for the M-Braves in their final game of the series before heading back to Pearl.

Lynchburg's game on Tuesday night was quite similar to Gwinnett's, as they struggled offensively and had a starter experience a tough outing. Myrtle Beach had no trouble plating runs, despite the absence of Joey Gallo and Jorge Alfaro in their lineup, tagging Lynchburg's staff for six runs. Lay Batista gave up four of these runs in a five-inning outing, allowing 10 hits (8 singles, 2 doubles), and four runs. Batista did, however, strike out six Pelicans and walk only one, so that's a silver lining to an otherwise rough performance. Navery Moore gave up a pair of runs in 1.1 innings of relief work as well. The Hillcats were able to get hitters on base, picking up 6 hits and 6 walks as a team, but a Kevin Ahrens RBI double was the only time that Lynchburg was able to cash in. Kyle Wren collected his fifth double of the season in the game, and promptly stole third base after the double, his 27th of the season (he was, however, caught stealing on another attempt). Will Skinner also doubled for the 'cats. It's also worth noting that Lynchburg catcher Tyler Tewell was lifted in the fourth inning as a precautionary measure after being hit by a pitch on the right ankle, so hopefully his injury ends up being minor (hat tip to Damien Sordelett for that information). Greg Ross will attempt to limit Myrtle Beach's potent offense at Calvin Falwell field tonight.

Rome picked up its second consecutive win (they've only won two in a row twice this season), winning a close contest against Augusta last night. Daniel Watts made a strong start for Rome, throwing six innings of three-hit ball. Watts allowed a pair of runs and struck out five hitters, walking only one and displaying good control. Both RBIs and a pair of doubles came via Augusta's Jeremy Sy, who seemed to be the only hitter with Watts' number yesterday night. Richie Tate and Andy Otero finished off the game for the R-Braves in relief. Connor Oliver had a two-hit game that included his sixth double of the season, which is nice to see, as he was only 2 for his last 25 at-bats going into the night. Johan Camargo continued to swing a hot bat, picking up a pair of hits including a double as well. The biggest hit of the night came off of the bat of Victor Caratini, who hit his second home run of the season in the top of the third inning. According to David Lee, Caratini's left-handed swing was quite enticing.