Braves Minor League Recap: Stripers fall in extras

We are into day two of the minor league season and we have the first taste of disappointment with the Gwinnett Stripers taking a tough loss. The two prospects in action were Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake who each had solid days at the plate.

(1-1) Gwinnett Stripers 7, (1-1) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 8

Box Score

• Vaughn Grissom, SS: 1-4, BB, RBI
• Braden Shewmake, 2B: 2-5, 2B, SB, RBI
• Jordan Luplow, LF: 3-5, 2 RBI
• Jackson Stephens, SP: 2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 13.50 ERA
• Yacksel Rios, RP: 2IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA

Gwinnett took part in a high-scoring affair in their second game of the season, battling back and forth with the Jumbo Shrimp across 11 innings. The Shrimp jumped on the board first as Gwinnett starter Jackson Stephens struggled in his two innings allowing three runs on five hits. Gwinnett fought back quickly however, taking a run back in the bottom of the inning on a Yolmer Sanchez single. After 1-2-3 inning from Nolan Kingham the Stripers got back to work offensively and made their biggest move of the game.

Joe Hudson led off the bottom of the third inning with a walk to flip the order over, but Forrest Wall and Vaughn Grissom went down and the Stripers faced their final out of the inning. Braden Shewmake was able to keep the inning alive with a base hit and Jordan Luplow cut the deficit in half by following with an RBI single. Magneuris Sierra then delivered a go-ahead two-run triple to put the Stripers on top for a short period.

Jacksonville got a run back in the next inning to tie the game back up before Gwinnett was able to retake the lead in the fifth inning. Wall and Grissom each drew walks to start the inning and Braden Shewmake kept a good day going with a double off of the wall to break the tie and put Gwinnett up one. Unfortunately Grissom wasn’t able to get from first to home safely and was narrowly thrown out for the inning’s first run. Shewmake made sure Gwinnett would get another run regardless, stealing third base and then scoring on another single from Jordan Luplow.

This lead again didn’t last long, with Jacksonville cranking out a three run sixth inning. Nolan Kingham couldn’t record an out in the inning, loading the bases on a hit, walk, and error by Shewmake before being pulled for Grant Holmes. The error on Shewmake was a bit of a tough one to charge to him, as he had to range to his right and dropped the ball on the transfer while trying to turn and throw to second base. Holmes got a key strikeout for the first out, but an infield single up the middle scored the first run and Jacksonville tied it soon after on a force out. Holmes had Jacksonville down to their final out with a chance to escape with the tie intact, but allowed a two out single to give the Jumbo Shrimp a one run lead going into the bottom of the sixth.

Jacksonville did their best to give the game right back to Gwinnett, allowing Yolmer Sanchez on with a leadoff error. A single from Joe Hudson then advanced Sanchez to third where Vaughn Grissom was able to tie the game back up again on a sharp single right up the middle. Both teams held the score there with Yacksel Rios looking sharp for two innings and Roel Ramirez shutting down the Shrimp in the 10th inning. Sierra started the bottom of the inning on second base then stole third after Charlie Culberson couldn’t advance him on a ground out. Yolmer Sanchez was able to put a ball in play, but it was right at the shortstop who was able to nail Sierra at home plate for the second out. After Gwinnett came up empty in the 10th Matt Swarmer gave up a run in the top of the 11th, bringing the Stripers down to their final at bats of the game. Sanchez advanced to third base on a wild pitch, but Hoy Park struck out and then a similar situation to the 10th occurred when Joe Hudson grounded a ball to third base and Sanchez was easily caught trying to score. Hudson was replaced by Justin Dean, who was caught stealing at second base to end the game.