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(72-64) Gwinnett Braves 1 vs. (69-68) Durham Bulls 2
- Mallex Smith, CF: 0-3, 1 BB, .282/.328/.369
- Cedric Hunter, LF: 1-4, 1 RBI, .285/.328/.430
- Greg Smith, SP: 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 2.55 ERA
While Greg Smith had yet another good outing, the Gwinnett offense was held in check as Durham wins 2-1. Greg Smith has been excellent all year long, both as a starter as well as a reliever. While his peripherals don't jump off the page like many prospects (not to mention he is 31), he is the definition of a good organizational guy to have as he knows how to pitch and is great to have around for a spot start or to mentor young pitchers coming through. Unfortunately for Greg, the offense only managed 4 hits and while Cedric Hunter did manage to drive in a run, thats all that Gwinnett would get. As Gwinnett pushes for a playoff spot, its going to be a lot tougher for them as September call-ups are bound to take their toll.
(75-56) Biloxi Shuckers 0 vs. (68-63) Mississippi Braves 3
- Mycal Jones, CF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 run, 2 RBI, .266/.369/.399
- Rio Ruiz, 3B: 0-3, 1 K, .236/.333/.320
- Stephen Janas, SP: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 4.23 ERA
Stephen Janas was outstanding as Mississippi beat Biloxi 3-0. Janas has had several outings this year across two levels where he absolutely dominates the competition and this was one of those games. He gave up just the one hit to go along with 2 BB in 6 innings. Mycal Jones provided the bulk of the offense for Mississippi as he drove in two of their three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Beyond that, neither team did much on offense, including Rio Ruiz who saw his 15 game hitting streak snapped. Hopefully he can still end the season strong, but his performance of late gave us a glimpse of why many scouts were so high on him coming in to the season.
Carolina Mudcats - Off Day
(68-65) Greenville Drive 3 vs. (56-77) Rome Braves 6
- Stephen Gaylor, CF: 3-5, 2 runs, .286/.373/.348
- Luke Dykstra, DH: 2-3, 2 2B, 3 RBIs, .313/.338/.448
- Braxton Davidson, RF: 0-2, 1 run, 1 RBI, 2 BB, .241/.384/.370
- Trevor Belicek, SP: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2.51 ERA
Rome rode a strong outing from Trevor Belicek and overcame a costly error by Matt Tellor to beat Greenville 6-3. Luke Dykstra had a excellent day at the plate with 3 RBIs and its clear that the extra time in rookie ball did him a world of good. Since his promotion in the wake of Ozhaino Albies injury, he has been among Rome's best hitters. Stephen Gaylor has continued to impress in the leadoff spot (as well as in the field....seriously, watch the video below) while Braxton Davidson, despite the fact that he has maintained a high OBP, has struggled in the second half and its tough to figure what the plan for him is going in to next season in terms of what level he will start at. Trevor Belicek, after a quick promotion from rookie ball, has been doing quite well for himself at Rome and this game was no exception. In his 3 starts at Rome, he has given up zero earned runs in two of them. Taylor Cockrell was good as well, although after the Tellor error the wheels seemed to come off for him a bit.
(34-33) Danville Braves 14 vs. (39-28) Kingsport Mets 6
- Austin Riley, 3B: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R, Ejected, Error, .355/.444/.598
- Ronald Acuna, 2-5, 2 RBI, 2 runs, 1 BB, .292/.387/.477
- Carlos Castro, DH: 3-5, 1 3B, 2 runs, 3 RBI, .320/.338/.415
- Ryan Clark, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 5 K, 2.91 ERA
Danville broke out the big wood in this weird game as they beat the Mets 14-6. When you see Danville score this many runs, one can quickly get excited because that probably means Austin Riley did some damage. He did walk a couple of times and get an RBI and a run, but the game wasn't his finest effort. He also made an error in the field and was ejected (along with manager Rocket Wheeler....what a great name) for arguing balls and strikes. Considering Danville was the recipient of 9 walks, its hard to understand what was going on, but it is a little nice to see some competitive fire in Riley this early on. Ronald Acuna and Carlos Castro continued their hitting ways while the offense as a whole used 15 hits and the aforementioned 9 walks to really punish the Mets in this one. Ryan Clark had an excellent start for Danville while Matthew Custred is showing that he is a prospect to watch for the bullpen as he lowered his ERA to 1.42 with another inning of scoreless relief.