Braves Minor League Recap: David McCabe homers to lead Rome to lone win for Atlanta MiLB affiliates

While it wasn’t the most exciting day down on the farm as Rome was the only team to notch a win, Mississippi hitters like Drew Campbell and Landon Stephens also put up solid performances on the day.

(29-34) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (29-34) Charlotte Knights 5

• Daniel Robertson, 3B: 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Hoy Park, RF: 2-3, RBI, R
• Justus Sheffield, SP: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Box Score

Gwinnett failed to hold onto an early lead on Sunday as they dropped Sunday’s matchup against Charlotte, ending their five-game winning streak.

Justus Sheffield made his Triple-A debut as a member of the Braves organization and actually managed to toss three hitless innings before running into trouble in the fourth inning; more on that later.

The Stripers struck first in this one as Joe Dunad doubled to leadoff the inning and Hoy Park laced a one-out single to bring Dunad home, making it 1-0 Gwinnett. In the following inning, the Stripers would bring home another run. Luke Williams singled to kick off the inning and would later advance on an error on the pickoff attempt by Charlotte pitcher Jesse Scholtens. Braden Shewmake then came through with a ground ball single into right field to score Williams, extending the Gwinnett lead to 2-0.

As for the aforementioned trouble for Sheffield, he would surrender five runs in the inning, all with two outs. As a result, the Knights would take a 5-2 lead as Dereck Rodriguez would come on in relief to put out the fire and would do so, getting the only batter he faced in the inning to strike out.

Gwinnett would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth inning as Justin Dean grounded into a force out to score Hoy Park who singled earlier in the inning to make it 5-3 Biloxi.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Stripers were able to cut the Charlotte lead to one as Daniel Robertson doubled home Joe Hudson to make it 5-4.

While the bullpen prevented any further damage, the offense failed to scratch across any additional runs as Gwinnett fell by a final of 5-4.

(27-29) Mississippi Braves 4, (29-28) Biloxi Shuckers 5

• Drew Campbell, CF: 2-4, HR, RBI, R
• Landon Stephens, RF: 1-3, HR, 3 RBI
• Jesse Franklin V, DH: 2-4, R
• Domingo Robles, SP: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Box Score

A late comeback attempt fell just short as Mississippi came out on the wrong side of the series finale against Biloxi on Sunday.

For the most part, things were relatively quiet for both offenses, as both teams only managed to put a runner in scoring position once through the first three innings. Biloxi would be the first team to break through on the scoreboard however, as they would plate three runs on four hits off of Braves starter Domingo Robles. In the bottom of the inning, Mississippi would actually load the bases, but failed to bring a runner home, leaving them with a goose egg in the run column.

The Shuckers would plate another run in the top of the sixth inning, putting Mississippi in a 4-0 deficit.

The Braves finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning as they would cut into the Biloxi lead by driving in three runs of their own. Jesse Franklin V got the party started with a single into right field before Javier Valdes reached on an error, putting Franklin V in scoring position. Cade Bunnell struck out for the first out of the inning as Landon Stephens followed that up with a three-run homer over the center field fence to make it 4-3 Biloxi.

The next scoring opportunities for both teams came in the ninth inning. Kyle Wilcox got the nod to try and hold the deficit at just one run for the Braves, but would allow a lone run, as the Shuckers extended their lead to 5-3.

In the home half, the Braves got the run back courtesy of a Drew Campbell solo home run with one out in the inning. However, that would be all Mississippi would get as the next two batters would be retired to end the game.

(27-30) Rome Braves 12, (21-32) Hickory Crawdads 3

• David McCabe, 3B: 3-5, HR, 4 RBI
• Bryson Horne, 1B: 2-5, 2 RBI, R
• Drake Baldwin, C: 1-3, 3 RBI, R
• Hunter Riggins, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Box Score

Getting the lone win on the day for Atlanta’s minor league affiliates, the Rome offense exploded for 12 runs on 13 hits.

Hickory actually took the first lead of the game in the top of the first inning as Rome starter Hunter Riggins loaded the bases and actually induced a double play but allowed one run on the play.

Trailing 1-0 headed into the bottom of the third inning, Rome’s offense had failed to register a hit through the first two frames. That changed in a monumental way in the bottom of the third.

By the time the inning ended, 14 Braves would come to the plate as Rome scored ten runs to take a 10-1 lead.

Brandon Parker walked to leadoff the inning and Stephen Paolini struck out in the following at-bat. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. then doubled Parker to third as Drake Baldwin walked to load the bases. Nacho Alvarez then drew a bases-loaded walk to score Parker, tying Hickory.

Following the walk to Alvarez, David McCabe decided to make his presence known. After falling behind 1-2, McCabe launched an opposite field grand slam over the right center field wall, clearing the bases and more importantly giving Rome their first lead of the day. Up 5-1, Geraldo Quintero singled after McCabe’s grand slam and Keshawn Ogans doubled him home to make it 6-1. Ogans would then be singled home by Bryson Horne to increase the Rome lead to 7-1. Coming to the plate for the second time in the inning, Parker would then single while moving Horne over to second. After Paolini went down on strikes for the second out of the inning, Kilpatrick Jr. drew a walk to once again load the bases. This time, it would be Drake Baldwin who would be the one unloading the bases with a double into left field, plating three runs and extending the Braves lead to 10-1.

Rome failed to score in the fourth or fifth innings as Riggins continued his stellar outing by limiting the damage to just one run across six innings while striking out five.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Braves would add two more runs to their scoring total. Both Alvarez and McCabe reached via singles and Alvarez would later score on a forceout by Quintero to make it 11-1. Quintero would then be brought home on a Horne single, giving him his second RBI of the day and making it 12-1 Rome.

Hickory scored a single run in each of the final two frames, but it would be too little, too late to catch the Braves who took the series finale.

(27-30) Augusta GreenJackets 3, (34-23) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 8

• Andrew Keck, DH: 1-2, HR, RBI, BB
• Tyler Collins, CF:1-4, 2 RBI
• Jared Johnson, SP: 2.2 IP, 4 BB, 3 K

Box Score

A disastrous ninth inning led to Augusta’s downfall on Sunday afternoon.

The GreenJackets would get on the board first in the bottom of the third inning as Andrew Keck notched an inside-the-park homer into deep center field, making it 1-0.

On the mound, Jared Johnson got the start and tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless ball despite issuing walks in each of the first three innings. Ronaldo Alesandro would come on in relief and continue Johnson’s fine work, keeping Myrtle Beach off the board while striking out three of the four batters he faced.

Augusta would add to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jair Casanova worked a walk in-between a pair of strikeouts before Cory Acton singled him into scoring position. Keck walked to load the bases and Tyler Collins delivered a two-run single left field to make it 3-0 GreenJackets.

Didier Fuentes would be called on next out of the Augusta bullpen and would surrender the first run of the day to the Pelicans. Fuentes gave up a leadoff double and followed that up with a balk, allowing the runner to advance to third. The righty would notch a strikeout, but one batter later would allow a sac fly, cutting into the Augusta lead at 3-1. The pitching carousel continued turning for the GreenJackets in the top of the sixth inning as Samuel Strickland would relieve Fuentes and would allow another Pelican run after giving up a double and a run-scoring single, bringing Augusta’s lead to 3-2.

Leading by a run headed into the final frame, Augusta needed just three outs to take home the win. However, outs would be hard to come by in the inning.

Elison Joseph replaced Strickland and immediately gave up a game-tying home run. That was just the beginning of troubles in the frame for GreenJacket pitchers as Joseph would allow six runs in the inning, allowing Myrtle Beach to take a commanding 8-3 lead.

Augusta put up a fight in the bottom of the inning as they would load the bases, but Jair Casanova would groundout to end the game.