Braves Minor League Recap: Drake Baldwin homers twice, Cedric De Grandpre dominates again

The Atlanta Braves minor league system had a couple of massive individual performances on the day which led to a strong day for the organization.

(16-23) Gwinnett Stripers 5, (24-15) Memphis Redbirds 4

• Forrest Wall - 1-3, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
• Hoy Park - 3-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
• Allen Winans, SP, 4 ¹⁄3, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

The Stripers scored a run three batters into the game in this one. Forrest Wall led it off with a walk and proceeded to steal a base before scoring on a Chadwick Tromp double. They threatened in the second, loading the bases with a pair of two-out walks, but Vaughn Grissom flew out to end the threat. Following a 1-2-3 third, Hoy Park led off the fourth with a solo home run. In the sixth they scratched across another run, this time on a Wall double, but he broke the biggest unwritten rule of baseball in getting thrown out at third base on a stolen base attempt. In the 10th they plated two runs on three straight singles with the RBIs coming off of the bats of Hoy Park and Joshua Fuentes.

Alan Winans was solid in this one as the box score shows. He threw 50 strikes, five of which were swinging strikes on 84 pitches. He did flirt with a lot of danger in the first four innings allowing one runner to get into scoring position in each frame, but he was able to escape it each time. In the fifth his willingness to allow runners to get into scoring position came back to bite him as he allowed a leadoff double to Taylor Motter who scored on an RBI groundout after a wild pitch allowed him to advance to third. Ty Tice came into replace him and stopped the damage in the sixth. Grant Holmes then came in to start the seventh inning and despite allowing three walks in the inning he did not allow a run. The same cannot be said for the eighth though as he allowed Moises Gomez to hit a two-run home run in the inning, tying the game. Yacksel Rios came on to pitch the 10th and after hitting Jordan Walker with a pitch to lead it off he retired the next three batters to pick up the save.

(14-18) Mississippi Braves 7, (17-16) Montgomery Biscuits 6

• Jesse Franklin V - 2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 K
• Drew Lugbauer - 2-3, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 K
• Scott Blewett, SP, 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

To start the game the Braves benefited from some poor fielding as Justin Dean reached third on a throwing error. After a quiet second, they scored again in the third after the first three batters reached. In the fifth, three Braves batters struck out, but a Jessie Franklin V homer played all of the runs in the inning. They scored one in the sixth, but it could’ve been a bigger inning had Cade Bunnell not been thrown out at home on an Andrew Moritz run-scoring double. Mississippi added another run in the eighth via a Bunnell RBI single, but he was thrown out on the bases again trying to reach second on the play.

Scott Blewett started poorly in this one allowing two runs in the first inning. He allowed three to reach, alternating between hits and outs as six batters came to the dish. After two decent innings, he allowed another two to cross in the fourth, this time via a Ronny Simon double. Lucas Luetge began his rehab assignment by retiring five of the six batters he faced.

(16-17) Rome Braves 7, (12-20) Hickory Crawdads 3

• Drake Baldwin - 3-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 K
• Bryson Horne - 2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K
• Hunter Riggins, SP, 4 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

The bats started early and stayed throughout in this one. In the first inning, three runners reached base with one scoring via a Drake Baldwin double. In the second, Bryson Horne lead it off with a homer which was followed by a walk and single. After two quiet innings, Horne drove in another run this time via a double. In the sixth, Drake Baldwin plated two with a two-out homer. Baldwin put a stamp on his massive game with another two-run homer in the ninth. Impressively, despite striking out 13 total times on the day, the Braves had 13 hits to match it.

Riggins had a good day at the office, starting with four shutout innings where he only had to face 13 batters. He did run into some trouble in the fifth though where he allowed his only run which came on a ground ball double play after he allowed a walk and two singles to lead off the inning. A lightning delay caused him to get replaced by Estarlin Rodriguez who allowed a two-run homer in the sixth, the same inning he was lifted for Rolddy Munoz. Munoz was strong enroute to a win pitching 3 ⅓ innings, allowing just two hits and striking out four.

(16-17) Augusta GreenJackets 9, (16-17) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4

• Ambioris Tavarez - 0-2, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
• David McCabe - 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
• Cedric De Grandpre - SP, 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K

Over the first seven innings, the GreenJackets threatened a few times but were unable to get anything going. They had two innings where they got two batters on base and three where they had a runner in scoring position. Things changed in the seventh though where they scored four runs. After Justin Janas led the inning off with a hit by pitch which was followed by a strikeout, five of the next six batters reached base safely, one of which was via an error. Nick Clarno, Tyler Collins, Tavarez and McCabe all recorded RBIs in the inning. Augusta led off the ninth with four consecutive walks. After an Ethan Workinger pop out, Janas and Clarno plated three with the other run in the inning scoring via a wild pitch.

Another game, another gem from Cedric Grandpre. He allowed seven total base runners without an earned run scoring. The only run he allowed came in the second inning where a throwing error on a stolen base allowed a runner to reach third who then immediately scored on an RBI groundout which was followed by two strikeouts. He allowed two singles in both the third and fourth, but worked around it in those innings. Nolan Martinez came in, in the seventh inning and picked up a save pitching the final three innings. He allowed three in the eighth which was sandwiched by 1-2-3 innings. Of the three runs in the inning only one was earned due to an error by E.J. Exposito.