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(26-35) Gwinnett Stripers 0, (33-27) Norfolk Tides 1 - Game 1
Dustin Peterson, LF: 0-2, BB, .259/.313/.432
Wes Parsons, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 3.47 ERA
(27-35) Gwinnett Stripers 2, (33-28) Norfolk Tides 1 - Game 2
Dustin Peterson, LF: 0-3, .254/.307/.423
Evan Phillips, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1.74 ERA
Gwinnett’s offense went off on Tuesday, but not in the good way more like how the electricity in my house did during the storms that forced this double header. The Braves offense had no answer for the Tides pitching staff in the first game, and only scratched out three hits with no runs to show for it. Gwinnett threatened with two hits in the fourth inning, but it was to no avail as a double play from Rob Brantly ended a promising inning. The Stripers couldn’t get any more hits in the game and left Wes Parsons with a tough luck loss. Parsons was solid on the day over his 5 innings of work despite not having his most efficient stuff. It took him 76 pitches to get through his outing and he only managed 2 strikeouts, but kept Gwinnett in the game with only a second inning home run marring his outing. Chad Bell came on to replace Parsons and pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Game two seemed to be the same story for the Stripers in the early stages of the game, with three hits through the first 5 innings and no runs to show for it in a tightly contested pitcher’s duel. Danny Santana broke the scoreless tie to lead off the sixth inning with a run, handing starter Elian Leyva his first lead of the game. Leyva had allowed 5 hits and a walk through his 5 innings of work, doing well to scatter those hits and benefiting from two double plays. Leyva did not have the same level of success when brought out for the sixth inning, giving the lead up with back-to-back doubles to open the inning before being pulled out of the game in favor of Evan Phillips. Phillips was his typically dominant self, striking out three batters with his only runner coming on an intentional walk. Xavier Avery opened the seventh inning with a single, and then two walks loaded the bases in the inning with one out. Danny Santana drove a fly ball deep enough to score Avery, breaking the tie and eventually giving Gwinnett a win and a split of the double header. Josh Ravin came in to close the game, managing to work around two hits in the inning to get the save.
Next Game: 6/13 vs (33-28) Norfolk Tides @ 12:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
GWN: Max Fried (1-3, 4.88 ERA)
NOR: Asher Wojciechowski (3-2, 3.46 ERA)
(26-38) Mississippi Braves 1, (27-35) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 2 - Game 1
Alex Jackson, C: 1-3, HR, RBI, .172/.256/.299
Travis Demeritte, LF: 0-3, .219/.326/.385
Andres Santiago, SP: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 4.03 ERA
(27-38) Mississippi Braves 5, (27-36) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 1 - Game 2
Carlos Martinez, C: 1-3, HR, 4 RBI, .217/.250/.391
Travis Demeritte, LF: 0-3, .216/.321/.379
Michael Mader, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 3.36 ERA
Andres Santiago fell victim to a lack of offensive (or defensive) production in the first game of the double header, pitching a complete game with just one earned run but taking the loss nonetheless. Santiago gave up a second inning home run that gave the Wahoos an early lead, but didn’t allow another hit until the sixth inning of the game. Mississippi was having their struggles with the bats, but Alex Jackson injected some life into the game in the bottom of the 5th inning with his fourth home run of the season, tying the game at a run each. That didn’t last long though, and a bunt to lead off the sixth inning got thrown away by third baseman Daniel Lockhart and put a runner at second base to lead off the inning (officially scored as a hit and a throwing error to advance the runner). A sacrifice bunt moved the runner over and a single brought him in, giving Pensacola the lead they would take to the final. Mississippi had a chance to hit back after a fielding error put runners at first and third with one out in the sixth, but Tyler Marlette lined into an unfortunate double play to end the threat and keep the Braves trailing.
Mississippi never trailed in the second game, and one big hit was the difference in an easy win over the Blue Wahoos. Mississippi struck first in the second inning despite not hitting a ball out of the infield, with Luis Valenzuela recording an infield hit with two outs, advancing to second base on a fielding error, to third on another infield hit, and then scoring on a walk to the pitcher Michael Mader. That interesting turn of events was all Mississippi needed for awhile, as Mader was rolling through the Blue Wahoos offense on the mound and retired the first 8 men he faced in the game. Mader worked around 4th inning trouble thanks to a double play, setting the stage for the big inning for the Braves offense. 3 walks in the inning loaded the bases for Carlos Martinez, who hit a grand slam to break the game open. Martinez had homered just once prior in his 218 career games over 6 seasons. Mader allowed his only run of the game on a couple of hits in the sixth inning, but finished 6 complete frames with no walks and four strikeouts. Adam McCreery finished the game with a scoreless seventh inning.
Next Game: 6/13 vs (38-27) Biloxi Shuckers @ 7:35 PM ET
Probable Starters
MIS: Kyle Wright (3-7, 4.71 ERA)
BLX: Thomas Jankins (7-3, 5.02 ERA)
(27-33) Florida Fire Frogs 6, (31-28) Bradenton Marauders 0 - Game 1
Brett Cumberland, DH: 2-4, .234/.366/.383
Braxton Davidson, 1B: 1-2, HR, BB, 2 RBI, .173/.277/.377
Cristian Pache, CF: 1-4, HR, RBI, .275/.297/.415
Tucker Davidson, SP: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 4.77 ERA
(27-34) Florida Fire Frogs 2, (32-28) Bradenton Marauders 3 - Game 2
Cristian Pache, CF: 1-3, 2 RBI, .276/.298/.414
Ian Anderson, SP: 2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 3.57 ERA
Cristian Pache broke out if his short slump with a good double header, opening the first game of the day with a home run to give Florida the lead. Three of Pache’s four home runs this season have come within his last 14 games, and he’s already one short of matching his extra base hit total from last season. Three consecutive singles opened the second inning and resulted in two runs being scored in the inning to stretch the Fire Frogs lead out to 3-0. Braxton Davidson added even more in the 5th inning with his two run home run, and he has 5 home runs this month and is one short of matching his career high in home runs. On the mound Tucker Davidson pitched his best outing of his career, a 7 inning complete game shutout to earn the win. This was a career high for Davidson in innings pitched, and over his last 5 starts he’s begun rounding into form and has posted a 1.35 ERA in 26 2⁄3 innings.
Game two was less successful all around for the Fire Frogs, starting with the performance of Ian Anderson. 2 games after having to leave after two innings Anderson once again found himself with huge early pitch counts, and after a 36 pitch first inning and 24 pitch second he was pulled out of the game. Anderson’s command simply wasn’t there this game, even though he was getting some swings-and-misses, and fortunately this bump in his road came after that performance by Davidson and didn’t cost the Fire Frogs too dearly in the bullpen. Jordan Rodgers doubled in the bottom of third inning for the Fire Frogs first hit of the day, and a throwing error on a Marcus Mooney ground ball put two runners on for Cristian Pache. Pache came through with a single to give Florida a 2-1 lead, but that was all of the production on the day for the offense and they didn’t record another hit in the game. Troy Bacon put together two perfect innings on 24 pitches, putting Florida in line for the win after 4 innings. Mauricio Cabrera came in for the 5th and set the Marauders down in order, and then pushing his luck a bit was brought out in the 6th inning and predictably imploded. Mauricio recorded an out on a bunt to open the inning, and then allowed 2 hits and two walks to tie the game and leave the bases loaded before he was pulled from the game for Dan Lietz. Lietz did his job and worked out of the bases loaded jam, but couldn’t hold it together when brought out in the seventh. A one out double and then a single scored the go ahead run for the Marauders and doomed Florida to a split of the day.
Next Game: 6/13 vs (32-28) Bradenton Marauders @ 6:31 PM ET
Probable Starters
FLO: Kyle Muller (1-1, 3.86 ERA)
BRD: Luis Escobar (4-4, 3.77 ERA)
(39-25) Rome Braves 10, (21-42) Greenville Drive 4
Drew Waters, CF: 2-5, 2B, SB, .311/.362/.556
Isranel Wilson, RF: 3-5, HR, 4 RBI, SB, .238/.330/.390
Jean Carlos Encarnacion, 3B: 3-5, 2B, .309/.335/.456
Jasseel De La Cruz, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1.99 ERA
This game had everything you could want, including the biggest story of the day in Jasseel De La Cruz’s return from the disabled list. The offense went quietly in the first inning, with the only hit coming from Jean Carlos Encarnacion, who I absolutely love as a prospect but really needs to walk more because he’s somehow hitting .395 in June with a .375 OBP. Still, he’s been incredible this season and has seen his OPS go up dramatically each month to date and is now 10th in the league in hitting (one of three Rome Braves in the top 10). The second inning was the biggest for Rome, starting with a mammoth three run home run from Austin Bush. Like, the outfielders barely moved and when I say I’m not sure the ball landed I mean that I’m pretty sure it did just not in this dimension. Isranel Wilson and Drew Waters (8th in the league in hitting) then got back-to-back hits, then pulled off a double steal that led to a run scoring throwing error by the catcher. My heart is full. Riley Delgado (6th in the league in hitting) then brought Drew in with a sacrifice fly that gave Rome a 5-0 lead. The Braves weren’t done and William Contreras and Drew Lugbauer opened up the third with base hits. The inning also featured two runs, a base hit by Jefrey Ramos, and an RBI single from Izzy, and the Braves had a 7-0 lead after three innings. The bats for Rome almost took the rest of the night off, but Izzy Wilson capped off a huge day at the plate with a 3 run home run in the seventh inning, his fifth of the season.
While the offense was doing their jobs quite well, Jasseel De La Cruz was making a return from a month and a half on the disabled list look like no big deal. The command for De La Cruz was definitely rusty and waned more as the game went on, but overall it was another strong performance for DLC as he completed 5 innings on 78 pitches and only allowed one run. De La Cruz has a lot of helium if he can stay healthy for the rest of the season, and this is a huge addition to the rotation for the Braves. Jacob Belinda, nephew of Stan Belinda if you weren’t aware (I was not until like 3 days ago), pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief of De La Cruz and struck out two batters. Daysbel Hernandez struggled again for Rome and allowed 3 runs on 4 walks in one inning of work. Cutter Dyals closed out the day with a perfect 9th inning.
Next Game: 6/13 vs (21-42) Greenville Drive 5:00 PM ET
Probable Starters
ROM: TBD
Greenville: Hildemaro Requena (1-1, 6.19 ERA)