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Gwinnett Stripers, Norfolk Tides - Doubleheader
Both postponed - Rain sucks
Mississippi Braves, Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Postponed - Rain sucks
Florida Fire Frogs, Bradenton Marauders
Postponed - Rain sucks
Rome Braves 8, Greenville Drive 2
- Drew Waters, CF: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .309/.361/.554
- Jean Carlos Encarnacion, 3B: 2-5, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 runs, .302/.329/.448
- Drew Lugbauer, DH: 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB, .246/.316/.393
- Isranel Wilson, RF: 3-5, RBI, .228/.323/.365
- Huascar Ynoa, SP: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 4.61 ERA
Rome pulled away late in the only game that actually occurred on Monday, backing up another strong start from Huascar Ynoa as the Braves won by the score of 8-2. Huascar has had an interesting year. Through the first month or so of the season, he would alternate a good start with a poor one with walks being a common theme throughout. More recently, however, he has started to command the strike zone better and as the walks have gone down, he has started to look dominant and pitching further into games. Over his last three starts, he thrown 19 innings while striking out 25 batters, walking four, and giving up a total of two earned runs. Kelvin Rodriguez, who is having a fine year himself out of the bullpen, came on for the final two innings of relief and struck out four batters in his sixth straight scoreless appearance.
On offense, there is a lot to be excited about. Drew Waters continued his assault with another multi-hit game and he has now hit safely in 14 straight games. His .916 OPS currently ranks 3rd in the South Atlantic League despite the fact that he will play the entire 2018 season as a teenager. Jean Carlos Encarnacion has made some adjustments to his swing that give him a bit more loft and those adjustments are paying off. He had a pair of extra-base hits in this game including his fourth home run of the season. JCE is batting .366 over his last 10 games and is climbing the league’s leaderboard in multiple offensive categories. Drew Lugbauer had a pair of doubles and has been hitting much better after a rough start to the season. After posting a .594 OPS in the month of April, Slugbauer put up a far more respectable .743 OPS in May and is off to an even better start in June with an OPS of .887. One thing to watch with Drew is his splits against lefties as he has struggled against them this year with an OPS nearly 200 points lower against southpaws. William Contreras reached base four times with a single and three walks and Isranel Wilson had three hits of his own. In short, this was a complete offensive showing from one of the best teams in the South Atlantic League.