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Gwinnett Stripers 4, Norfolk Tides 2
Austin Riley, 3B: 1-3, BB, 2K
Rio Ruiz, 1B: 1-4, BB, HR, 2RBI
Lane Adams, RF: 1-4, 2K
Michael Reed, CF: 2-5, 2B, K, 2R, SB
Max Fried, SP: 4.2IN, 0H, 0ER, 3BB, 6K
Jacob Webb, RP: 1IN, 0H, 0ER, 0BB, 2K
The story of the night was that Lane Adams made his return! Just kidding (no offense Lane).
The real story of the night is that of Rio Ruiz hitting a walk-off two-run home run. Just bask in the glorious tweet below.
It’s a walk-off homerun for @ruiz_rio! Stripers take down the Indians 4-2! pic.twitter.com/tAcO7I1YV1
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) July 19, 2018
Other notable performances came from Michael Reed, who just keeps on hitting and doing his best to defy the BABIP lord. Luis Marte got on base three times as well.
Let’s talk about Max Fried carrying a no hitter into the 5th inning. He just came off the DL so he was on a pitch count, which is a shame because he was spinning an excellent game. He’s really been coming into his own over his past few starts. Once Fried exits, Elian Leyva immediately gives up a hit, and eventually allows two runs to score tying the game. I’m not upset about the hit. A no-hitter into the 5th inning is hardly worth mentioning. However, Fried pitched a helluva game and ended up with a no decision. Jacob Webb pitched a great 9th inning. He really needed it as he’s been struggling lately.
Mississippi Braves 2, Montgomery Buscuits 6
Tyler Neslony, RF: 2-4, BB, K
Alejandro Salazar, 3B: 2-5, RBI, 2K
Travis Demeritte, LF: 1-4, 2B, RBI
Enderson Franco, SP: 4.1IN, 5H, 4ER, 3BB, 4K
For the season, Enderson Franco has pitched admirably, however he didn’t have his A game in this one. He gave up some hard hit singles to score a run and a home run. The bullpen didn’t help much as Connor Johnstone came in with a runner on and the first batter he faces hits a triple. Before you knew it the Braves were down five runs and the Buscuits tacked on another an inning later.
The offense had plenty of chances to score. They had 14 runners on base, but only two runners crossed the plate. You simply won’t win games when that happens. Alejandro Salazar followed up his five-hit performance with another two hits tonight. Good to see him keep things going. Also, Tyler Neslony now has a modest four-game hit streak, in which he has three-straight multi-hit games. Be nice if this was the start of something big for him. Neslony simply has to start hitting if he has any chance of moving up.
Florida Fire Frogs 9, Dunedin Blue Jays 3
Cristian Pache, CF: 2-5, R, SB
Brett Cumberland, C: 2-4, HR, RBI, 2R, BB, K
Jared James, DH: 3-5, 2B, 2RBI, R, K
Braxton Davidson, 1B: 3-5, 2B, HR, 3RBI, 2R, K
Troy Bacon, RP: 2IN, 1H, 0ER, 1BB, 3K
Josh Graham, RP: 2IN, 2H, 0ER, 0BB, 4K
Florida Fire Frogs were on fire tonight. They scored in five of the nine innings played, and really opened things up with a four-run 5th inning.
Cristian Pache extends his hit streak to 10 games now in which he’s raised his batting avg from .278 to .289. The only not so great news is just three-extra base hits in that time.
Jared James is another player on a hot streak in which he’s raised his average from .217 to .241. Other players to note are Brett Cumberland and Braxton Davidson, both of whom hit home runs. Isranel Wilson went hitless, but did draw a walk.
Jon Kennedy got the start, and the ground ball specialist went four innings of decent pitching. He’s not a starter, so you have to take that into consideration. The relief core came in and pitched five innings and giving up just a single run. Graham and Bacon were the standouts. Since his promotion, Brandon S White has struggled with the transition giving up runs in 4 of his 5 appearances. Hopefully he’ll get acclimated soon and pitch like he did at Rome where he had a 0.85 WHIP.
Danville Braves 0, Pulaski Yankees 4
Matt Rowland, SP: 5IN, 3H, 0ER(1R), 1BB, 5K
The Danville Braves got one hit. Carlos Baerga Jr hit a double. Too much talent on this squad to get one hit. Embarrassing. I’m not tipping my cap!
Matt Rowland on the other hand pitched a great game. Remember, he missed two years and this was easily his best game. Really looking forward to seeing more from him.
Rome Braves - Off Day
GCL Braves 3, GCL Pirates 5
Jeremy Fernandez, CF: 0-2, 2BB
Juan Morales, SS: 2-3, BB, K, R
William Woods, SP: 2.2IN, 2H, 1ER (2R), 2BB, 3K
Lisandro Santos, RP: 4.1IN, 7H, 0ER (3R), 1BB, 6K
Yeoli Lopez, RP: 1IN, 1H, 0ER, 0BB, 1K
The defense really let the pitching down. A multitude of errors resulted in four unearned runs. William Woods only pitched 2.2 innings. This is likely by design for recent college picks, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Yeoli Lopez’s transition to reliever hasn’t been great thus far, but he had a strong inning where he didn’t give up a run. So that’s nice.
On offense, no one really stood out. Only Juan Morales had multiple hits. Braulio Vasquez went hitless, but managed to collect an RBI on a sac fly. Jeremy Fernandez has been hot, but while he also went hitless he did walk twice.