Braves Minor League Recap: Vaughn Grissom goes off in return to Gwinnett

Sunday was a tough day in the Atlanta Braves system as the teams dropped three of four games, and if you don’t count some late runs none of those games was particularly close. On the positive note Vaughn Grissom responded well to his demotion with a three hit game and David McCabe hit a homer.

Charlotte Knights 18, Gwinnett Stripers 11

Box Score

• Eli White, CF: 2-5, HR, BB, 3 RBI, R, .275/.367/.608
• Vaughn Grissom, SS: 3-4, 2B, BB, R
• Travis d’Arnaud, C: 0-2, BB
• Hoy Park, DH: 2-5, HR, 2B, R, 4 RBI, .217/.382/.300

Gwinnett lost by a touchdown, but this one wasn’t even that close. Heading into the bottom of the ninth, Charlotte had an 18-4 lead after scoring six in the first and four more in the second. Starter Tanner Gordon was on the hook for all 10 of those runs, lasting just an inning and a third in this one. The rest of the damage was off of Nick Margevicius (three in 3.1 IP) and Beau Burrows (five in 2.2 IP). A scoreless inning from Kyle Wilcox and two thirds of an inning from Ty Tice were the only positives for the Gwinnett pitching staff in this one.

The lineup may have advantage of some shaky pitching and defense in the ninth to pad their stats a little bit, but it’s not like they weren’t hitting before that. The headliner here is Vaughn Grissom, who went 3-4 with a walk and a double in his return to the minors. Grissom got the start at short, where he will continue to play every day - especially while Braden Shewmake is in Atlanta. Eli White went 2-5 with a walk and slugged his fifth homer of the season, while Hoy Park added a homer, double, and batted four in. That doesn’t even include Joshua Fuentes, who was a homer shy of the cycle, or Forrest Wall, who went 3-5 with a pair of doubles. It also doesn’t include a multi-hit effort from Nick Solak, going 2-5. Continuing his rehab assignment, Travis d’Arnaud was 0-2 with a walk before being lifted after five innings with the score sitting at 15-3.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 5, Mississippi Braves 4

Box Score

• Landon Stephens, RF: 1-2, HR, 2 BB, R, RBI, .215/.357/.367
• Beau Philip, 2B: 2-4, R, .217/.286/.289
• Drew Campbell, LF: 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, .222/.269/.389
• Cal Conley, SS: 1-5, HR, R, RBI, .202/.295/.283

Just like the Gwinnett game, some ninth inning runs padded the stats to make this look closer than it actually was - though to be fair Mississippi had the tough task of facing Marlins top prospect Eury Perez while throwing a bullpen game. Jose Montilla got the start and allowed four runs in his two innings, before an inning apiece from six different relievers. Of the six, five pitched scoreless innings - Alex Segal, Domingo Gonzalez, Hayden Deal, Coleman Huntley, and Alec Barger, while Trey Riley allowed one run during his inning. Combined the seven pitchers went eight innings, giving up seven hits and four walks, while striking out 10 hitters.

It’s no surprise that the Mississippi offense struggled in this one when you consider the fact that they faced one of the top pitching prospects in the game in Eury Perez. Perez allowed two hits and two walks over six innings, giving up just a solo homer to Cal Conley. It wasn’t until the ninth inning when three runs on a pair of homers by Drew Campbell and Landon Stephens made this one close. Overall the Braves managed just six hits, with five of them coming from the five, six, and seven hitters in the order as Campbell notched two hits, as did Beau Philip, and then the homers from Conley and Stephens accounted for the remainder. Stephens also added a pair of walks, to reach base three times in this one.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 9, Rome Braves 4

Box Score

• Adam Zebrowski, C: 2-5, 2B, R, .339/.453/.677
• Keshawn Ogans, SS: 2-3, BB, R, RBI, .189/.380/.226
• Kadon Morton, LF: 1-3, BB, R, .194/.301/.306
• Geraldo Quintero, 3B: 1-4, BB, R, .253/.333/.333

Another game where some late runs made this game appear closer than it actually was, as Rome scored three in the eighth after trailing 9-1. Tyler Owens got the start and allowed four runs in the first, though came back with a scoreless second to complete his day. Patrick Halligan followed with one run allowed over the next three innings, before Peyton Williams allowed four in his two innings of work. A scoreless inning apiece from Jonathan Hughes and Ben Dum completed the day from the pitching staff.

The offense had a quiet day, managing just seven hits and one extra base hit, with Adam Zebrowski and Keshawn Ogans leading the way. Zebrowski was 2-5 with a double, while Ogans was 2-3 with a walk. Kadon Morton and Geraldo Quintero each had a single and a walk, while Cory Acton drew a pair of walks, and joined Zebrowski and Ogans in reaching base multiple times in this one.

Augusta GreenJackets 8, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 7

Box Score

• David McCabe, 3B: 1-4, HR, BB, 2 R, RBI, .193/.324/.337
• Tyler Collins, CF: 1-4, RBI, SB, .206/.273/.265
• EJ Exposito, 2B: 3-4, R, 3 RBI, .255/.357/.426
• Jeremy Celedonio, RF: 0-2, 3 BB, 2 R, .147/.341/.353
• Jared Johnson, RP: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 4.26 ERA

Didier Fuentes got the start, and things started solid for the 17-year-old with a pair of scoreless innings before getting tagged for five runs and not escaping the third inning. Fuentes finished the day with five runs in two and two third innings on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts, allowing a pair of homers. Hayden Harris relieved him with a scoreless inning and a third before Jared Johnson came on. Johnson allowed a pair of runs on four hits and two walks over three innings, but did strike out six hitters and the pair of runs came on a two-run homer. Landon Harper followed with two scoreless innings that included four strikeouts to pick up the multi-inning save.

The Augusta offense scored eight runs in a well balanced effort, as seven of the nine starters reached base. David McCabe was the headliner, hitting his third homer of the season, and EJ Exposito went 3-4 with three RBI. Among the other notable games we saw Jeremy Celedonio draw three walks, Jair Casanova tripled and walked, Mahki Backstrom singled and walked, and Tyler Collins had a hit and then stole his 11th base of the season. The only prospect of note who didn’t get on in this one was Ambioris Tavarez, who was 0-5 on the day.