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(65-56) Gwinnett Braves 6, (67-54) Columbus Clippers 4
Box Score
Mallex Smith, CF: 3-5, 2B, R, RBI, .270/.311/.352
Cedric Hunter, DH: 2-4, RBI, BB, .280/.324/.422
Christian Bethancourt, C: 3-5, HR,3 RBI, .328/.358/.486
Kanekoa Texeira, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 3.61 ERA
Christian Bethancourt just keeps hitting, and now sits at an 8 game hitting streak. He has been ridiculous in August, with a .435/.481/.696 line and 2 of his 4 home runs this season. He has slowly begun to shed the idea that his bat will never develop, though he will still need to transfer that success into the majors. Mallex Smith has been just as impressive this month, and has started to reclaim his AA form by posting a .348/.386/.424 with 11 stolen bases in 15 games. Ryan Kelly continued his fantastic work in AAA with a perfect 9th, striking out all 3 batters he faced. Gwinnett has now moved to 2 back of Columbus for the wild card berth, and have another game remaining in the series to possibly move even closer to securing a Wild Card berth.
(60-57) Mississippi Braves 1 vs. (64-48) Mobile BayBears 2
Rio Ruiz, 3B: 1-4, 2B, .217/.327/.275
Matt Lipka, CF: 1-4, .251/.284/.320
Steve Janas, SP: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 4.22 ERA
Ryne Harper, RP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2K, 1.93 ERA
Well, starting pitcher Steve Janas led the team in hits today, and typically that is not a recipe for success. Janas pitched well over 7 innings for Mississippi, and went 2-3 with an RBI. The rest of the lineup was not nearly as successful, finishing 5-29 with 0 RBIs. Rio Ruiz smoked a double in his last at bat, and has posted his second best month statistically in August. Ryne Harper is having another fantastic season in his 3rd stint as a Mississippi Brave, and has a career ERA of 2.21 in AA. Matt Lipka threw out Jack Reinheimer at home plate, and that is his 9th outfield assist this season-a career high. After a brief visit to first place, Mississippi has dropped off the past few games and sits in 3rd place in the South Division, a game back of Pensacola and game and a half back of Mobile.
(60-58) Carolina Mudcats 0 vs. (58-61) Frederick Keys 1
Dustin Peterson, LF: 2-4, .246/.320/.338
Carlos Franco, 3B: 1-4, .247/.330/.394
Johan Camargo, SS: 0-3, .258/.314/.338
Blaur Walters, SP: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 2.72 ERA
It was a rough night for Carolina, as the offense wasted a fantastic start from Blair Walters. Walters has been great as a starter for Carolina, posting a 2.59 ERA in 18 games. He forced 3 double plays on the day, and got 11 ground ball outs. Johan Camargo's offensive slide continued, and he added on a throwing error (his 20th error) that luckily did not lead to any runs. Dustin Peterson posted his first multi hit game since July 20th vs Frederick. Richie Tate posted his six straight scoreless outing, and has put up a 2.10 ERA on the season and a 1.38 ERA in his last 10 games. Carolina will try to avoid a sweep tomorrow with Seth Webster on the mound, who has been arguably the best starter on the team this season.
(49-68) Rome Braves 8 vs. (49-66) Lexington Legends 2 Game 1
Braxton Davidson, DH: 2-3, HR, 3 RBI
Leudys Baez, LF: 1-3, 2B
Tanner Murphy, C:1-4, 2B, RBI, .191/.276/.291
Zach Quintana, SP: 7 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2.98 ERA
(50-68) Rome Braves 3 vs. (49-67) Lexington Legends 2 Game 2
Braxton Davidson, RF: 0-1, 2 BB, .246/.393/.377
Leudys Baez, DH: 1-3, 2B, .239/.255/.370
Omar Obregon, SS: 3-3. 2 RBI, .267/.333/.314
Sean McLaughlin, SP: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 3.38 ERA
Rome had their best day in a while, sweeping the doubleheader against the Legends, with Braxton Davidson hitting his 8th home run. It was a pretty Braxton Davidson-like day, walking twice, hitting a home run, and striking out twice. Center Fielder Stephen Gaylor stole 3 bases in game 1, and is now hitting .272 on the season. Omar Obregon had possibly the best day of his career, going 4 for 5 with 2 walks and his 28th stolen base of the season. Bryan De La Rosa, who has the 2nd highest OPS among catchers in the system since the minor league all star break (behind just Bethancourt and his ridiculous numbers), went 1-4 with a double in game 2. Zach Quintana has been great as a starter for Rome, and with his great 7 innings of work today he drops his ERA as a starter to 2.95. Rome finishes up their series with Lexington tomorrow, with Hector Olivera making a rehab appearance.
(26-26) Danville Braves 2 vs. (23-29) Burlington Royals 1
Ronald Acuna, RF: 2-3, 2B, BB, SB, .200/.368/.267
Austin Riley, 3B: 2-4, RBI, .314/.417/.529
Justin Ellison, LF: 2-3, 3B, BB, .250/.314/.500
Ryan Clark, SP: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1.80 ERA
Another day, another good game for Austin Riley. He now has hits in 6 of his last 7. Kurt Hoekstra drove in the other run for Danville, giving them the lead in the third-one they would keep for the remainder of the game. The bullpen was solid despite only striking out one. Matt Custred pitched another scoreless outing, going 3 innings and giving up 2 hits and no runs with no strikeouts or walks allowed. Grayson Jones came on for the save, and had to work out of trouble after allowing 2 hits and a walk, but worked out of it to give Danville the win. Danville has gone 7-3 in their last 10 to push their record to .500, and they look to finish strong with the influx of talent they've gotten from GCL.
(19-27) GCL Braves 2 vs. (29-15) GCL Blue Jays 3
Collin Yelich, DH: 2-4, .250/.375/.263
Jonathan Morales, C: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, .239/.316/.360
Kolby Allard, SP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 0.00 ERA
Chad Sobotka, RP: 1IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
Kolby Allard was worth the wait. He already has put up a head turning performance in just 3 professional innings, striking out 8 of the 11 batter he has faced. The Braves are clearly being super careful with the back injury and all of the time missed, but 1 or 2 more performances like that and he'll be packing his bags for Danville, Virginia. Chad Sobotka made his first rehab start, finally pitching for the first time in exactly 2 months-his last start at Rome was June 15. Jonathan Morales hit his 3rd career home run to give the Braves a 2-0 lead in the second, but the ultimately could not hold on to the lead.