Braves Minor League Recap: Owen Murphy strikes out 12 in dominant outing for Augusta

Overall it was a good day for Atlanta’s MiLB affiliates as four of the six teams in action took home a win on Friday. Owen Murphy was outstanding for Augusta and Leiker Figueroa had a great day for the FCL Braves in what were two of the most impressive performance from Braves farmhands on Friday.

(32-41) Gwinnett Stripers 5, (31-41) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 4

• Yolmer Sanchez, 3B: 1-4, HR, 2 RBI
• Vaughn Grissom, 2-4, RBI, R
• Kolby Allard, SP: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K

Box Score

Despite a short outing from starter Kolby Allard, Gwinnett brought home a win on Friday night.

It didn’t take long for the Stripers to assert themselves, as they plated four runs in the first inning to jump out to a commanding lead off the bat. Forrest Wall and Luke Williams drew back-to-back walks to start the frame off. Wall would be caught stealing in the next at-bat as Williams took second shortly thereafter. Vaughn Grissom brought home the game’s first run as he singled into center field, bringing Williams across the plate to make it 1-0. Grissom would advance to second on the throw on the play and then took third on a wild pitch to Jesus Aguilar, who later drew a walk to put runners on the corners. A sac fly from Braden Shewmake brought Grissom home to make it 2-0 Gwinnett. In the next at-bat, Yolmer Sanchez launched a two-run homer, scoring Aguilar and extending the Stripers’ lead to 4-0 before the first inning ever ended.

Jacksonville got two runs back in the top of the second inning, as Allard allowed four straight singles, as the Jumbo Shrimp cut the Gwinnett lead in half at 4-2. Gwinnett would put a runner in scoring position in the third inning but failed to bring him home as Jacksonville continued to cut into the Stripers lead, scoring one run in the top of the fourth to make it 4-3.

Leading by one run headed into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Stripers would tack on an insurance run. Hoy Park doubled to leadoff the inning and would be moved over to third on a ground out off the bat of Daniel Robertson. Standing just 90 feet away, Park would be brought home on a sac fly from Dominic Miroglio to make it 5-3 Stripers.

Nick Margevicius came on in relief of Allard in the third inning and would spin four innings of two-run ball, one of which came in the top of the seventh inning, cutting into the Gwinnett lead to make it 5-4.

Margevicius would give way to Joel Ramirez who would toss a scoreless eighth. Grant Holmes would be called upon to close the door and get the save. And despite giving up back-to-back two-out singles, would get out of the inning unscathed to cap off the 5-4 win for Gwinnett.

(33-33) Mississippi Braves 1, (23-44) Birmingham Barons 2

• Justin Dean, CF: 2-4, HR, RBI, R
• Beau Philip, 3B: 1-2, BB
• Domingo Robles, SP: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 7 K

Box Score

Despite outhitting Birmingham in this one, Mississippi came away with a loss.

For the first five innings, it was a pitching duel as Braves starter Domingo Robles allowed just three baserunners through the first five innings. He would finally make a significant mistake in the top of the sixth inning, allowing a two-run homer before retiring the next three batters to end the inning.

Offensively for Mississippi, they got off to a relatively decent start, tallying a pair of singles in the frame. However, from that point forward, it would be a tough go of it at the dish for the Braves as they would be limited to just one hit over the next four innings.

Mississippi trailed 2-0 headed into the home half of the sixth inning before finally getting on the board. Beau Philip notched a leadoff single before advancing to second on a balk and then being picked off by the Birmingham catcher for the second out of the inning. Philip’s baserunning blunder would loom large as two batters later, Justin Dean would send a 1-2 pitch over the left center field fence for a solo homer, making it 2-1 Barons.

Jake McSteen, Hayden Deal, and Victor Vodnik would be tasked with holding the deficit at one run, and would do so successfully, with Vodnik striking out a pair of batters in his frame to continue his solid streak of play as of recent.

However, offensive frustrations for Mississippi would continue. The Braves went down in order in the seventh inning, but would put a runner in scoring position following a two-out walk to Philip and a single by Cal Conley. Ultimately, both Philip and Conley would be left stranded as Dean struck out to end the inning.

In the ninth, things stayed the same, with the Braves going down in order to end the game with Birmingham taking the 2-1 win.

(30-37) Rome Braves 1, (36-30) Jersey Shore BlueClaws 2

• Nacho Alvarez, SS: 1-2, 2B, RBI
• Keshawn Ogans, 3B: 1-3, 2B
• Ian Mejia, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Box Score

Much like their Double-A counterparts, Rome was on the wrong end of a close one, losing by one run to Jersey Shore.

The Braves would actually get on the board first, and needed just two at-bats to do so. Geraldo Quintero drew a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning and Nacho Alvarez doubled him home two pitches later, staking Rome to an early 1-0 lead. Alvarez would be doubled off at second base in the next at-bat. Keshawn Ogans notched a double of his own in the inning, but that would be all Rome would get in the frame.

In terms of offense, it would be a rough game for the Braves. Over the course of nine innings, Rome tallied just three hits, two of which came in the first inning. The other hit came in the top of the second inning, as Brandon Parker laced a double.

Jersey Shore took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, plating two runs against Rome starter Ian Mejia. Neither team would score from that point forward, as Jersey Shore would hang on to win by a final of 2-1.

(32-34) Augusta GreenJackets 3, (28-38) Delmarva Shorebirds 2

• E.J. Exposito, 2B: 2-4, RBI, R
• Justin Janas, 1B: 2-4, R
• Owen Murphy, SP: 5.2 IP, 3 H, ER, 12 K
• Seth Keller, RP:

Box Score

Augusta used a big fourth inning and a dominant start from Owen Murphy to propel them to a win over Delmarva.

Murphy spun his best performance to date as a member of the Braves organization, striking out 12 across 5.2 innings and allowing just one run. That one run came in the home half of the first inning as Delmarva jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a solo homer. From that point, Murphy would strike out six of the next seven batters he faced to shut down the Shorebirds in the second and third innings to keep the Augusta deficit at 1-0.

The GreenJackets would break through in the top of the fourth inning. Justin Janas singled to leadoff the inning and Ethan Workinger followed that up with a walk, advancing Janas to second. After Bryson Worrell struck out, E.J. Exposito singled to bring Janas home, tying the game at 1-1. In the next at-bat, Jerermy Celedonio grounded out to bring Workinger across, giving the GreenJackets their first lead of the game at 2-1. Augusta wouldn’t be done at that point. Cory Acton walked and Nick Clarno followed with a single of his own, allowing Exposito to score to make it 3-1.

While his offense gave him a two-run lead to work with, Murphy continued to deal. Striking out a pair of batters in the fourth and the sixth before being relieved by Jason Franks with two gone in the sixth. Franks would allow a solo homer to the first batter he faced, cutting the Augusta lead to 3-2.

Offensively, things would be hard to come by for both squads over the final three innings, despite the GreenJackets putting another runner in scoring position in the top of the seventh after Ambioris Tavarez and Janas worked back-to-back singles.

Seth Keller made his anticipated return from the IL in relief, tossing a scoreless seventh and eighth inning while allowing just two hits and striking out one batter.

Chad Bryant was called on to get the save for Augusta and would work around a one-out double to slam the door on the win for the GreenJackets.

(6-8) FCL Braves 9, (5-9) FCL Rays 3

• Leiker Figueroa, SS: 2-3, HR, 3B, RBI, 4 R, 2 BB
• Douglas Glod, CF: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R, 2 BB
• Luis Sanchez, 3B: 2-5, 2 RBI
• Roddery Munoz, SP: 2 IP, H

Box Score

The top half of the FCL Braves’ lineup dominated on Friday en route to a 9-3 win over the FCL Rays. The Braves got off to a hot start as Leiker Figueroa tripled on the first pitch of the game and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0. Douglas Glod would double home a pair of runs in the top of the third and later score on another wild pitch, making it a 4-0 lead for the Braves. Figueroa tallied his second extra-base hit of the night, a solo homer, in the top of the fifth, extending the Braves lead to 5-0.

The Braves pitching staff put up four scoreless innings, led by Roddery Munoz tossing two of those frames, before giving up a run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth, making it 5-3 Braves.

The Braves batted around in the top of the ninth, drawing six walks in the inning, as they tacked on four more runs to extend their lead to 9-3 which held as the final.

Figueroa put up his best performance to date as a pro, going 2-3 with a homer and triple while scoring four times. Douglas Glod went 1-3 with a double and two RBI in the win as well. On the flip side of good performances, Diego Benitez went 0-5 with three strikeouts, lowering his OPS on the season to .678.

(4-10) DSL Braves 4, (6-8) DSL Guardians Red 2

• Luis Guanipa, CF: 2-5, R
• Carlos Monteverde, RF: 1-5, 2B, RBI
• Roiber Niazoa, 1B: 2-3, R
• Jose Pineda, SP: 3 IP, H, ER, BB, 3 K

Box Score

The DSL Braves notched back-to-back wins for the first time this season with a victory on Friday afternoon, scoring two runs in the top of the ninth to seal the deal.

Jose Pineda got the start for the Braves and went three innings, allowing just one run and striking out three.

Trailing 1-0, the Braves tied the game thanks to an RBI-single off the bat of Hojans Hernandez. The Braves took their first lead of the game in the top of the fifth, as Mario Baez grounded out to first base, plating John Estevez to make it 2-1. The Guardians would battle back to tie things up at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning as reliever Rudit Pina surrendered the run.

The Braves would retake the lead in the top of the ninth, as Roiber Niazoa singled to leadoff the inning and later took home on a double steal attempt followed by a throwing error to make it 3-2. Luis Guanipa later scored on a double off the bat of Carlos Monteverde, making it 4-2 in favor of the Braves as the pitching staff closed the door on the win in the home half of the frame.

All told, the Braves’ pitching staff allowed just three hits and four walks on the day while striking out five.