Braves Minor League Recap: Tough day on the farm

Sunday was Easter, and what that meant for the Braves minor league affiliates was some off days for teams - a real rarity on the weekend for no game to be scheduled for any affiliate. That means the two lowest levels were off, and just Gwinnett and Mississippi were in action.

With the big league club taking the loss and both of the teams in action taking losses as well, we saw an organizational sweep on Sunday.

Norfolk Tides 4, Gwinnett Stripers 3

Box Score

• Vaughn Grissom, 2B: 1-5, BB
• Braden Shewmake, SS: 2-5, RBI
• Magneuris Sierra, RF: 3-4, R, 2 SB
• Allan Winans, SP: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K
• Matt Swarmer, RP: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

If you look at the score, it doesn’t accurately depict how well the Gwinnett pitching staff did for most of this game. Combined Allan Winans and Matt Swarmer went eight innings and allowed just four hits and two walks against a really good Norfolk lineup. Unfortunately those four hits included a pair of homers off of Winans, leading to half of the runs he allowed on the day. Winans went just shy of six innings, allowing four hits and two walks with four strikeouts while allowing those four runs. He was followed by Swarmer, who didn’t allow a base runner over his two and a third innings of work.

The Gwinnett offense had the tough task of matching up with Orioles top prospect DL Hall, and Hall did a very good job of limiting the Stripers to just one run over his four and a third innings, before they were able to tack on some runs off the Tides bullpen. Playing short today Braden Shewmake went 2-5 with an RBI, while Vaughn Grissom went one for five out of the second base position. The star of the offense on Sunday was Magneuris Sierra, who went 3-4 with a pair of steals and a run scored. Justin Dean went 0-1 with a pair of walks and an RBI on the day, while catcher Joe Hudson added the lone extra base hit of the day - a double that started the eighth inning rally, which cut the lead from 4-1 to 4-3.

Biloxi Shuckers 4, Mississippi Braves 0

Box Score

• Cody Milligan, 2B: 1-3, BB
• Hudson Potts, 1B: 0-2, 2 BB
• Daniel Martinez, SP: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K
• Victor Vodnik, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Daniel Martinez got the start and lasted three innings, giving up three runs on five hits and a pair of walks while striking out five. Jose Montilla followed and allowed just one unearned run over his three innings of work before a scoreless inning apiece from Alex Segal, Victor Vodnik, and Kyle Wilcox - with none of the trio allowing a hit and only one walk from Segal. Combined the Mississippi pen went six innings and gave up only one unearned run on three hits and two walks after Martinez departed.

The offense just didn’t show up in this one, as not only did the Braves get shut out but they only picked up two hits on the day. Cody Milligan went 1-3 with a walk, while Hudson Potts went 0-2 with a pair of walks to make them the only Braves to reach base multiple times in this one. The other hit was a Mitchell Tolman single.