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Friday was not good. Three losses and a rainout was the final result. It was expected to be a good day with some of the best pitchers in the system on the hill, but all three had off nights. As for the offense two games saw very little, while the other saw no offense.
Syracuse Chiefs 3, Gwinnett Stripers 2
- Dustin Peterson, LF: 2-4, RBI, .265/.312/.447
- Carlos Franco, 1B: 3-4, RBI, 2B, .255/.305/.459
- Kolby Allard, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 2.22 ERA
Kolby Allard had what would be considered an off night by his standards, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks over six innings of work. There’s nothing wrong with that solid performance, but he has been so good this year that this game will raise his ERA and WHIP. It’s always a good thing when a generally solid night overall is considered to be an off-night for a pitcher. Allard was followed by a scoreless inning from Rex Brothers, and then two scoreless from Jason Hursh.
While the pitching was pretty good overall, the bats never quite got going on Friday night. The Stripers scored just two runs, batted in by Dustin Peterson and Carlos Franco, who went a combined 5-8 with a double. Tyler Smith singled twice and they got a pair of hits, including a double from Rio Ruiz, but there just wasn’t enough offense to score more than two runs. Danny Santana also added a double in the loss.
Next Game: Saturday 6/9 hosting Syracuse @ 6:05 PM. Probable Starters: Gwinnett-Matt Wisler, Syracuse-TBD
Pensacola Blue Wahoos 6, Mississippi Braves 1
- Connor Lien, CF: 2-4, RBI, R, HR, .210/.260/.370
- Kyle Wright, SP: 5.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 BB, 2 K, 4.71 ERA
- Jacob Webb, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 3.18 ERA
Friday was not good for Kyle Wright. The 2017 first round draft pick went five and a third, allowing five runs on nine hits and five walks and only striking out two. Wright’s season in Double A has been up and down, as reflected by his 4.71 ERA. The stuff has been there for the most part, but not the results. My personal theory is that instead of Wright going out there and trying to dominate, he’s working on some things against minor league hitting. This is probably a topic worth exploring on it’s own, but definitely something I think is worth watching. Wright was followed by a scoreless inning and two thirds from Sean McLaughlin, then a perfect inning by Jacob Webb. Adam McCreery gave up a run in his ninth inning to extend the lead, while also finishing off the game.
The Braves had zero offense here outside of Connor Lien hitting a single and homer, bringing home the only run on the night. In fact the rest of the team had just three hits- all singles, by Taylor Murphy, Luis Marte, and Kyle Wright. It’s hard to find positives from this offensive performance, outside of Lien, considering Pensacola wasn’t starting a big prospect against the Braves.
Next Game: Saturday 6/9 hosting Pensacola @ 7:00 PM. Probable Starters: Mississippi-Touki Toussaint, Pensacola-Daniel Wright
Florida Fire Frogs- PPD
The game with Florida hosting Jupiter was postponed due to rain and will be made up tonight as part of a double header.
Next Game: Saturday 6/9 hosting Jupiter @ 4:00 PM, second game to follow. Probable Starters: Florida-Kyle Muller/TBD, Jupiter-TBD/TBD
Kannapolis Intimidators 8, Rome Braves 3
- Jean Carlos Encarnacion, 3B: 2-4, RBI, .299/.329/.431
- Drew Waters, CF: 1-4, SB, .301/.360/.552
- Bruce Zimmermann, SP: 7 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 2.80 ERA
This was one of the worst starts of the year from Zimmermann, who had been lights out all season. The Sally League All Star was hit for seven runs on 10 hits and a walk, though he did add five strikeouts. Tanner Allison followed with a scoreless inning, while Jacob Belinda allowed an additional run to come across in ths ninth.
The Braves got two hits and an RBI out of Jean Carlos Encarnacion, though he was also caught stealing. The third baseman just keeps on producing in Rome and has his average up to .299 on the year. Drew Waters added a single and was successful in his stolen base attempt. Riley Delgado added a double in the loss, his 14th of the season to go with a .320 average. It could be time to promote Delgado to Florida to see if he can keep this up.
Next Game: Saturday 6/9 hosting Kannapolis @ 6:00 PM. Probable Starters: Rome-Odalvi Javier, Kannapolis-Yosmer Solorzano