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Gwinnett Stripers 4, Pawtucket Red Sox 3 - F/10
- Austin Riley, 3B: 1-4, 2B, run, .297/.366/.428
- Alex Jackson, C: 2-3, 2 2B, RBI, BB, run
- Kolby Allard, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 6 K, 2.80 ERA
Kolby Allard threw five strong innings and Rio Ruiz came through for Gwinnett in extras as the Stripers took down Pawtucket by the score of 4-3. After this start, Kolby has given up just one earned run in back to back starts and Kolby currently 4th among qualified starters in the International League with a 2.80 ERA. While the strikeouts have been uneven for Kolby this year, his performance this year is certainly keeping him in the conversation for a spot in future Braves rotations.
On offense, Austin Riley cracked a double and he has hits in seven of his last eight games. Rio Ruiz was the hero of the game as he hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. Keep an eye on Rio as he is batting .295 over his last 10 games and it feels like a lot of those hits come up in big spots. Alex Jackson collected a pair of doubles, but the reports on this year have been largely poor at the plate. His bat speed seems diminished and he is getting fooled often. Here is hoping this game is a sign of a turnaround for him.
Mississippi Braves 1, Montgomery Biscuits 5
- Ray-Patrick Didder, SS: 1-4, 3 K, .314/.400/.429
- Carlos Martinez, 1B: 1-2, RBI, BB, .250/.295/.347
- Bruce Zimmermann, SP: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R (4 ER), 4 BB, 0 K, 3.32 ERA
Bruce Zimmermann had a bad night again and Mississippi fell by the score of 5-1. After his last outing resulted in him failing to escape the third inning, it may be time to start wondering what is wrong with Zimm as he has seemingly lost the ability to throw strikes as he has eight of them over his last three innings pitched and 18 over his last 21.1 innings. The Mississippi bullpen performed admirably the rest of the way, but the hole was simply too deep.
On offense, there wasn’t much going on as Braves managed just five singles in the entire game. One of those came off the bat of Ray-Patrick Didder who is acclimating nicely to Double-A. While the bat was a struggle in high-A at times, the reports on his defense have remained good and he is off to a nice start at the plate for Mississippi.
Rome Braves 8, Charleston RiverDogs 1
- Drew Waters, CF: 3-4, 2 2B, BB, 2 runs, .303/.351/.522
- Jean Carlos Encarnacion, 3B: 2-4, 3B, RBI, run, .278/.307/.452
- Huascar Ynoa, SP: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 3.63 ERA
Rome brought the big sticks in this one as they walloped Charleston by the final score of 8-1. When Ynoa’s fastball is on, he is a lights-out performer and he has certainly been just that of late. In four of his past five starts, Ynoa has given up one earned run or less and he currently is tied for sixth in the South Atlantic League in strikeouts with 100. Hayden Deal and Walter Borkovich combined for two scoreless innings of relief to lock down the win.
On offense....well, many good things happened. Drew Waters reached base 4 times including a pair of doubles. He sits in the top 5 in the league in most offensive categories at this point and he has amassed 45 XBH hits in 78 games. AJ Graffanino, Greyson Jenista, William Contreras, Jean Carlos Encarnacion, Brendan Venter, and Hagen Owenby all had RBIs in the game.
Danville Braves 0, Johnson City Cardinals 8
- Zach Soria, DH: 2-4, .200/.320/.200
- Nicholas Shumpert, SS: 1-4, 2B, 2 K, .259/.302/.397
- Ryan Shetter, SP: 3 IP, 6 H, 5 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 4 K, 2.16 ERA
We won’t dwell on this game long as Danville got beat up by Johnson City by the final score of 8-0. Nick Shumpert had the only extra-base hit on the evening with a double and five hits total. On the pitching side, Ryan Shetter, Nolan Kingham, and Zach Guth all gave up earned runs before Brooks Wilson closed out the game for the Braves with an inning of scoreless relief.