Braves Minor League Recap: Mike Soroka throws six shutout innings

The Atlanta Braves minor league system continued to sputter after a 1-3 day which included a heartbreaking walk off loss in a well-pitched game. Outside of that they lost two games where they allowed 8 in each with their only win coming in a game that featured a former MLB All Star.

(3-12) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (7-7) Omaha Storm Chasers 1

• Braden Shewmake 0-5, 4 LOB
• Justin Dean 0-2, 2 BB
• Mike Soroka, SP, 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

The Stripers were able to get off to a quick start. Forrest Wall led it off with a second pitch triple before Luke Waddell knocked him in on the next pitch. After that though the bats went largely quiet until the 8th as they had just two batters reach second between the 1st and 8th. In the penultimate frame though the Stripers were able to push 1 across after a single, wild pitch, productive out where the runner was moved from second to third and sac fly. They then scored two insurance runs in the final inning. Magneuris Sierra led it off with a single before a walk, line out, walk, sac fly and single. Impressively as well, the Stripers struck out just three times in this one.

Soroka looked like vintage Soroka in this one tossing 6 scoreless frames and striking out five. His command still left a little bit to be desired as he threw 54 strikes to 37 balls, not terrible, but a spot with room to improve. Ty Tice came in; in relief of Soroka and allowed the teams only run where the first two batters he faced reached on a double and RBI single. Yacksel Rios came in to close the game out in the 8th and after a 1,2,3 inning made things interesting in the 9th as the tying run came to the dish. Luckily though he was able to retire the next two batters to end the game.

(7-3) Montgomery Biscuits 8, (3-7) Mississippi Braves 5

• Landon Stevens 1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 BB
• Beau Phillip 2-3, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB
• Domingo Robles, SP, 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

At the dish the Braves were hardly able to get it going. Across the first 4 innings, 13 batters came to the plate and only 1 of them reached, and 6 of those hitters were retired via the strikeout. When the Biscuits went to the ‘pen things didn’t improve much over the next three innings. Despite drawing 2 walks in the fifth they didn’t push across a run but they were able to pick one up in the 7th via a Landon Stevens homer. They picked up another run in the 8th as well on a single from Andrew Moritz after a leadoff double, however the next three batters were sat down. In the ninth they were able to threaten a comeback as four batters reached base. The scratched 3 runs on the board in the frame, two of which came from a double off the bat of Beau Phillip, but an Andrew Moritz strikeout ended the game.

Things started poorly for the Braves pitchers and never got better. Robles allowed a leadoff homer on the second pitch of the game before later allowing a single and an RBI triple. In the third and fourth respectively 3 batters reached base with 1 run scoring in each inning, with Jose Montilla pitching the fourth. The fifth was even worse for Montilla as he allowed a two-run dinger. In the 8th and 9th respectively, the Biscuits were able to score one run in each frame one of which was earned by Domingo Gonzalez and the other from Austin Smith.

(3-5) Augusta GreenJackets 1, (5-4) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 2

• David McCabe 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
• Amboris Tavarez 0-4, 1 BB, 3 K
• De Grandpe, SP, 4 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 K

GreenJackets hitters really struggled through the first 5 innings. 18 batters came to the dish and just three of them reached base compared to 10 strikeouts. They scratched one run across in the 6th after a walk, stolen base, throwing error and then a sac fly off the bat of David McCabe. Over the next four innings four batters reached, 2 via the walk, 1 on a single and then another on an intentional walk. Disappointingly they were also unable to score a run in the 10th.

From a pitching standpoint the GreenJackets matched the Pelicans. Starter Cedric De Grandpre faced 14 allowing a hit, walk, hit by pitch as well as a batter to reach via an error. Didier Fuentes came in to relieve Grandpre and was solid. In his first two innings he allowed just one to reach but faced the minimum because of a pickoff. He got two quick outs in the 7th but a walk to the next batter and then a triple knotted the game at 1. They pitched two more scoreless innings before Jason Franks allowed an RBI infield single to give the Pelicans the walk off win.

(6-4) Hudson Valley Renegades 8, (4-5) Rome Braves 2

• Ignacio Alvarez 1-4, 1K
• Drake Baldwin 1-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
• Luis Vargas, SP, 3 ⅔ IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 K

At the dish the Braves were able to get off to a solid start getting two runs on the board via a Drake Baldwin double. In the fifth and sixth combined, just one of the 7 batters to come to the plate reached. It was the same story in the 7th where despite a leadoff single only three batters came to the plate due to a pickoff. In the 8th and 9th respectively only one batter was able to reach with the bats going down quietly in a rough loss.

The pitching for the Rome Braves really let the team down as over the first four innings they allowed 7 runs. Starter Luis Vargas only faced four batters in the first inning, before things started to go downhill. He allowed a leadoff homer in the second before a walk and single but was bailed out by a double play. In the third he allowed four of the first five batters to reach via singles which saw the Renegades plate two. In the fourth things got worse as he allowed 4 runs all of which came with two outs. Collin McHugh came in to start the 5th and retired 5 of the 7 batters he faced, 2 of which came via the strikeout. After retiring the final batter in the 6th Samuel Strickland allowed 3 batters to reach in the 7th, one of whom scored by a leadoff homer. Strickland and Ryder Jones were able to keep the Renegades quiet in the 8th and 9th innings.