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Monday had three games in the system with all three being pitchers duels with the starters all having good outings, but there was very limited offense across the system as the Braves teams went 1-2 on the day.
Mobile Bay Bears 4, Mississippi Braves 1 (10 innings)
- Patrick Weigel, SP: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 7 K
- Jared James, LF: 4-4, 2B, 3B, RBI
- Kade Scivicque, C: 1-4, 2B, R
This was a true pitchers duel as the two teams combined for two runs in the first nine innings and a total of 12 hits over the course of the game. That means good news for Patrick Weigel, who gave up one run on four hits over 5.2 innings and striking out seven. Weigel did an excellent job of throwing strikes, as 60 of his 87 pitches went for strikes, leading to 6 ground ball outs versus 3 fly ball outs to go with his 7 strikeouts(the other out was a caught stealing) while not giving up any extra base hits or walks. His ERA moves to 1.84 on the year, though this is his longest start of the year as he hasn’t reached six full innings in his three starts.
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Offensively there isn’t much of a story. A total of five hits for the Braves led to a quiet day at the plate, and even more so when you factor in Jared James breaking out with a perfect 4-4 game including a double and triple. James, who had started the year fairly slow, has seen his average climb to .267 after this one. The only other hit came from catcher Kade Scivicque’s double off Tyler Carpenter.
Next Game-Tuesday 4/18 vs Mobile @ 8 PM. Probable Starter-Kolby Allard
Fort Myers Miracle 2, Florida Fire Frogs 1
- Tyler Pike, SP: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 4 K
- Ronald Acuna, RF: 1-4, HR, RBI
- Alex Jackson, DH: 1-4
Another pitchers duel where the Braves team comes up short. This time Tyler Pike gave six shutout innings in a duel with Twins prospect Lachlan Wells. Pike, the player to be named later in the deal which sent Luiz Gohara to the Braves, needed just 66 pitches to get through his six innings of work though he was an extreme fly ball pitcher here with just two ground outs against nine fly outs. He was pulled for Andres Santiago, who gave up both runs in the bottom of the seventh.
At the plate it was quiet until the top of the ninth when Ronald Acuna hit a solo homer, getting the Fire Frogs on the scoreboard but not quite enough to even the score. Alex Jackson, Ray-Patrick Didder, Jonathan Morales, and Alejandro Salazar all had one hit in this one. With his hit here Jackson has a hit in all but two games this year, and a .286 average on the year.
Next Game-Tuesday 4/18 visiting Fort Myers @ 6:35 PM. Probable Starter-Drew Harrington
Rome Braves 3, Columbia Fireflies 2
- Bryse Wilson, SP: 4.2 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 K
- Juan Yepez, 3B: 1-3, BB
- Anthony Concepcion, 1B: 0-1, 3 BB, SB
The third pitchers duel of the evening saw Bryse Wilson dominate Columbia even though he battled with his command a bit. Wilson went 4.2 innings and gave up an unearned run on a hit and a pair of walks, but threw just 36 of his 82 pitches for strikes with the other 46 being balls. It’s definitely good to see Wilson on a night where he didn’t have everything working in his favor still manage to dig in and pitch well overall in terms of results. Wilson was followed by 2.1 strong innings by Adam McCreery and 2 innings from Brandon S. White to get the save.
Tanner Murphy and Kevin Josephina each had a pair of hits in a fairly quiet night at the plate, though the offensive player who reached base was Anthony Concepcion after walking three times and stealing a base. Juan Yepez, Derian Cruz, Cristian Pache, Anfernee Seymour, and Randy Ventura all had a hit in the win.
Next Game-Tuesday 4/18 vs Columbia @ 7 PM. Probable Starter-Jeremy Walker