Braves Minor League Recap: Kolby Allard returns to the mound

Sunday had some interesting things happen in the Braves system despite the 1-3 record on the day. Among the most noteworthy is the season debut from Kolby Allard in Gwinnett, considering he could find himself in a position to help with the Braves banged up pitching staff. There were also plenty of homers to go around, with Jesse Franklin hitting one of them. We also saw prospects like Ambioris Tavarez, Tyler Collins, Nacho Alvarez, and David McCabe all reach base multiple times.

Nashville Sounds 3, Gwinnett Stripers 0

Box Score

• Vaughn Grissom, SS: 1-4, SB, .312/.380/.462
• Braden Shewmake, 2B: 0-3, BB, .210/.274/.375
• Kolby Allard, SP: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Kolby Allard made his season debut in this one, and threw four scoreless innings against a pretty solid Nashville offense. Allard allowed just one hit and one walk and struck out three in those four innings. He looked solid and was efficient in doing it, needing just 45 pitches - 31 of which were for strikes. As injuries have struck the Braves pitching staff, Allard is in a spot where he can potentially help the big club once he gets fully ramped up. Lucas Luetge followed with a scoreless inning of his own, then two from Joe Harvey. Danny Young was next and got two outs before giving way to Yacksel Rios, who recorded the final out of the inning. Rios returned for the bottom of the ninth in this scoreless game and recorded one out before surrendering a walk-off three-run homer. This would be the final appearance for Rios in the Braves organization, as he was traded to Oakland for cash shortly after the game.

The Stripers offense failed to get going in this one, getting shut out on just five hits and three walks. Luke Williams and Joshua Fuentes each had two hits, with Williams having a double as the lone Gwinnett extra base hit. Vaughn Grissom was 1-4 and stole his seventh base since being sent down, while Braden Shewmake went 0-3 and drew a walk.

Mississippi Braves 7, Pensacola Blue Wahoos 6

Box Score

• Landon Stephens, RF: 1-4, HR, BB, R, 3 RBI, .223/.343/.480
• Javier Valdes, DH: 2-3, HR, BB, 2 R, RBI, .270/.404/.500
• Tanner Gordon, SP: 6 H, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 3.35 ERA
• Victor Vodnik, RP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 3.38 ERA

Tanner Gordon continued his excellent run with Mississippi in this one, going six shutout innings allowing just one hit with three walks. He departed the game with a 7-0 lead, and that is when things started to get interesting. Hayden Harris followed him and have up a run in his inning of work. Then Alex Segal walked three guys without recording an out - all of whom came in to score. Segal was followed by Hayden Deal, who fared only a little better - he recorded an out while allowing a hit and two walks, and two of those runners ended up coming home. Victor Vodnik entered in a 7-5 game with the bases loaded and one out, striking out a batter, walking a run in, then striking out another batter to hold the lead. Vodnik returned for the ninth and struck out the side in addition to walking one more batter, giving him strikeouts for all five outs he recorded.

The Mississippi offense was all via the home run, as four of them were hit and totaled all seven runs scored. Landon Stephens hit a three-run shot, Javier Valdes a two-run bomb, then solo shots from both Hudson Potts and Jesse Franklin. While the Braves had 10 hits they were spread around to eight different players with Valdes ending up going 2-3 with a walk, joining Cal Conley(2-4, BB) as the only Braves with multi-hit games. Franklin, Stephens, and Cade Bunnell each had a walk to go with their hit to reach base multiple times, and Tyler Tolve added a double to the team’s extra-base hit total.

Hudson Valley Renegades 10, Rome Braves 1

Box Score

• Nacho Alvarez, SS: 1-3, BB, .275/.411/.342
• David McCabe, 3B: 1-3, BB, .288/.403/.423
• Brooks Wilson, RP: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Rome saw their pitching staff get beaten up in this one. Hunter Riggins started and allowed two runs in two and two thirds, but also gave up five hits and four walks. JJ Niekro was next and he allowed a run over two and a third. Brooks Wilson gave up a run on three hits in an inning of work, making his second appearance of the season he returns from surgery. Rob Griswold allowed the final six runs to score in just a third of an inning of work, before Miguel Pena went the final five outs. Overall Rome allowed 10 runs, but also 15 hits and seven walks, as it seemed they were constantly dealing with runners on base in this one.

The Rome offense never really got going in this one, scoring one run on six hits and three walks. Adam Zebrowski led the way with two hits, including a double, and Brandon Parker also doubled to go with an RBI. A pair of last year’s draftees had solid games as Nacho Alvarez and David McCabe each walked and singled. The rest of the offense was a Geraldo Quintero single and a Stephen Paolini walk.

Carolina Mudcats 12, Augusta GreenJackets 9

Box Score

• Ambioris Tavarez, SS: 1-5, 2B, BB, 2 R, RBI, .187/.299/.277
• Bryson Worrell, CF: 2-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, .195/.333/.414
• Tyler Collins, DH: 1-4, 2B, BB, R, RBI, .188/.270/.234
• Jared Johnson, SP: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 4.09 ERA

This was a wild game without much pitching that went extra innings. Augusta jumped out to a 3-0 lead, saw it get tied at three, and eventually took a 7-4 lead into the ninth. Of course Carolina went on to score seven more runs to just one more for the Jackets, who dropped this one in 10 innings.

Jared Johnson got the start and was hit hard, giving up three runs in three and two thirds - but allowed eight hits during that time. Samuel Strickland was next and allowed just one unearned run over his two and a third innings, before a scoreless Nolan Martinez inning. Darling Florentino was next and he allowed a run during an inning, but he kept Augusta in the lead. Elison Joseph came in for the ninth to try to close this one out, but allowed three runs, including a pair of homers, in two thirds of an inning to tie the game up. Estarlin Rodriguez got the final out of the ninth and then went on to allow four runs (three earned) in the tenth.

Offensively everyone joined the party as Augusta scored nine runs on 11 hits and seven walks. Everyone reached base in this game, and seven of the nine players in the lineup reached base multiple times. Bryson Worrell led the way with a home run on a 2-5 afternoon that saw two runs scored and three batted in. Ambroris Tavarez and Tyler Collins each doubled and walked, while Jeremy Celedonio had a single to go with his double. Justin Janas and Ethan Workinger each had a pair of singles in the loss.