Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap 6/24: Jenista Slugs First Homer

(34-39) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (36-37) Columbus Clippers 10

Box Score

Michael Reed, CF: 1-4, HR, RBI, .384/.500/.562

Ronald Acuna, DH: 0-4, .213/.298/.280

Connor Johnstone, SP: 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 6.00 ERA

Gwinnett had an early lead but Columbus piled on runs against the Stripers bullpen and won the game 10-4. After falling behind by a run in the second inning Gwinnett quickly answered back in the bottom of the inning when Rob Brantly doubled to score Carlos Franco. Tyler Smith then gave the Stripers the lead with a double of his own, scoring both runners and making the score 3-1. Michael Reed tacked on a home run in the 8th inning when the Stripers already trailed 7-3. Ronald Acuna did not have much success at the plate with 3 ground outs and a strikeout in his 4 at bats.

Connor Johnstone was called up all the way from Florida to make a spot start for Gwinnett, and wasn’t able to fill up as many innings as had been hoped as he only went 3 innings on 61 pitches. Johnstone allowed 2 home runs that brought in 3 runs and left the game with it tied 3-3. Miguel Socolovich pitched two strong innings in relief, only allowing one hit while striking out 5. Rex Brothers took the loss by allowing in the go ahead run in the 6th inning. The game started to get ugly late starting with the inning from Jason Hursh, as he had no semblance of command and walked 3 batters in his inning of work and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits with no strikeouts. Chad Bell allowed the Clippers to stretch out their lead even further by allowing three runs on 2 home runs in the 9th inning.

Next Game: 6/24 vs (36-37) Columbus Clippers @ 1:05 PM ET

Probable Starters

GWN: Max Fried (2-4, 4.47 ERA)

COL: TBD

(31-42) Mississippi Braves 4, (29-42) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 3

Box Score

Alex Jackson, C: 1-4, 2B, .201/.287/.352

Travis Demeritte, LF: 1-3, BB, .222/.327/.370

Michael Mader, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 2.82 ERA

Mississippi trailed late in the game, but made a late comeback in the 8th and 9th innings to take down the Jumbo Shrimp. The Braves were shut out through the first 7 innings, but a lead off single and a walk set the stage for a big inning in the 8th. Daniel Lockhart came through with the first run on an RBI single, cutting the deficit in the game to 3-1. Tyler Neslony brought the Braves a little bit closer with a base hit, and then a two out wild pitch tied the game at 3. In the ninth Connor Lien and Luis Marte lead the inning off with back-to-back singles, and with one out in the inning Alay Lago came through with a base hit up the middle to walk off the Jumbo Shrimp for a win. Alex Jackson had a hit on the day and seems to be picking it up at the plate with hits in 5 of his last 7 games and 10 hits in that span.

Michael Mader, along with most of the Braves pitching staff, was strong in this one completing 5 scoreless innings with a season high 6 strikeouts. After 5 innings Mader left the game with it tied 0-0, and made way for Elian Leyva. Leyva pitched two scoreless innings with no walks or strikeouts, working around two hits to keep the shutout going. Adam McCreery worked the 8th inning and was the only Braves pitched who struggled, starting with a leadoff walk. After a wild pitch and a sacrifice the first run of the game was brought in on a single, and a double brought in two more to give Jacksonville a 3-0 lead. Corbin Clouse worked a perfect ninth inning for the Braves and recorded a strikeout.

Next Game: 6/24 vs (29-42) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp @ 5:05 PM ET

Probable Starters

MIS: Touki Toussaint (3-6, 3.41 ERA)

JAX: Merandy Gonzalez (0-1, 3.43 ERA)

(30-39) Florida Fire Frogs 4, (39-30) Daytona Tortugas 5

Box Score

Brett Cumberland, C: 1-4, HR, BB, RBI, .234/.354/.400

Ray-Patrick Didder, SS: 3-3, 3B, BB, HR, SB, .204/.305/.289

Cristian Pache, CF: 1-5, 2B, .277/.301/.413

Jeremy Walker, SP: 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 3.89 ERA

An error led to three unearned runs charged to Jeremy Walker, and that ended up being the deciding factor in a one run loss for the Fire Frogs. Florida took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the first inning when Brett Cumberland slugged his eighth home run of the season. Florida fell behind after 4 innings, but in the 5th tied it back up thanks to Ray-Patrick Didder. Didder singled to lead off the inning then stole second base and reached third on a throwing error before scoring on a fielder’s choice. Didder led the way in the game with 3 hits, his first three hit game of the season and his first since August 9th of last season. The Fire Frogs trailed 5-2 in the 8th inning when Didder hit an RBI triple and then scored on a single from Jordan Rodgers. Rodgers stole second base to put himself in scoring position with two outs, but Lucas Herbert flew out to end the final threat of the game for the Fire Frogs.

Jeremy Walker was solid on the mound for the Fire Frogs, but took the loss nonetheless as a result of three unearned runs charged to him. Walker had faced the minimum through 2 scoreless innings but had a rough time in the 3rd, allowing a couple of singles before a 2 out double tied the game at 1. A one out double in the fourth set the table for former Braves superstar Randy Ventura to knock in the go ahead run with a single. The biggest trouble for Walker came in the 6th, when an error put a runner on base with one out. A double then scored a run and Walker then put a man on with a wild pitch after he struck him out. Walker got his third strikeout of the inning but only his second out before a 2 run double pushed the Tortugas lead out to 5-2. Dan Lietz pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief of Walker and Troy Bacon pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

Next Game: 6/24 vs (39-30) Daytona Tortugas@ 11:00 AM ET

Probable Starters

FLO: Tucker Davidson (4-5, 4.86 ERA)

DBT: TBD

(41-31) Rome Braves 0, (39-32) Augusta GreenJackets 1 F/ 10

Box Score

Drew Waters, DH: 0-3, BB, .304/.356/.533

Isranel Wilson, CF: 1-3, .2301/.321/.372

Derian Cruz, 2B: 1-4, .245/.275/.351

Jasseel De La Cruz, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2.41 ERA

The Rome offense only recorded two hits and two walks and couldn’t push across a run in an extra inning loss to Augusta. In the tenth inning they stranded their gifted runner, starting when he couldn’t advance on a line drive out by William Contreras and a fly out to left field. Derian Cruz singled to push the runner to third base, but a fly out ended the inning and Augusta quickly took advantage to get the win in the bottom of the tenth.

For all the bad that was the Rome offense the pitching staff was equally strong, starting with the play of Jasseel De La Cruz. JDLC has not missed a beat since returning from the disabled list, and pitched 5 scoreless innings with only three hits allowed. De La Cruz only used 63 pitches, 42 of those strikes, to get through his 5 innings and forced 7 ground ball outs. Walter Borkovich pitched 3 scoreless innings in relief, with 3 strikeouts and one walk. Kelvin Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth inning and struck out one batter before being brought out in the tenth inning to try to strand the runner at second base. Rodriguez struck out the first batter he faced but allowed a base hit up the middle that scored the runner and gave Augusta a win.

Next Game: 6/24 vs (26-46) Greenville Drive 2:00 PM ET

Probable Starters

ROM: Bruce Zimmermann (7-3, 2.67 ERA)

GVL: Denyi Reyes

(2-3) Danville Braves 4, (2-3) Princeton Rays 6

Box Score

Greyson Jenista, RF: 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI .250/.294/.500

Nick Shumpert, 2B: 2-4, 2B, .250/.250/.417

Ricardo Sanchez, SP: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 4.76 ERA

Ricardo Sanchez made a return from the disabled list and a rehab start for the Braves but it wasn’t enough for them to win. Danville fell behind by three runs early, but started to crawl back into the game in the middle innings. The first big blow came from Greyson Jenista in the 5th inning with a 2 run double that cut the deficit to 3-2. A single from Andrew Moritz tied the game in the 6th inning, but Princeton took the lead back in the bottom of the frame. Danville was not down, however, and Greyson Jenista was once again the man of the hour with his first career home run to tie the game back up at 4 runs. Nick Shumpert had two hits on the day, and seems to be much improved in the early going. While it’s obviously still a very small sample he has only struck out 1 time in his first 12 plate appearances which is a huge improvement over the struggles he had last season with making contact.

Ricardo Sanchez struggled immediately out of the gates for Danville, loading the bases with one out in the first inning. Sanchez then allowed 2 runs on a ground out and a double steal, putting the Braves behind early before he could work out of the inning with his second strike out. From there Sanchez settled in and didn’t allow another run until a lead off home run in the fourth inning. Sanchez worked 5 ²⁄₃ and only walked one batter, with four runs (3 earned) allowed and 5 strikeouts. This was his first game action since April 15th. Keith Weisenberg pitched the final 2 ¹⁄₃ innings in the game, striking out 5 and walking none but allowing 2 unearned runs in the 8th inning that ended up being the game winners for Princeton.

Next Game: 6/24 vs (2-3) Princeton Rays 5:00 PM ET

Probable Starters TBD