Braves Minor League Recap: Ambioris Tavarez homers for the second straight day

All-in-all, it was a tough stretch down on the farm for Atlanta’s affiliates on Wednesday as all four teams in action lost.

(43-54) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (44-53) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 5

• Joe Dunad, 1B: 2-3, 2 RBI, BB
• Luke Williams, LF: 2-3, RBI, R, BB
• Justin Dean, CF: 1-4, 2B, R
• Justus Sheffield, SP: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

Box Score

Gwinnett was on the wrong end of a walkoff on Wednesday as they lost 5-4.

The Stripers jumped out to a 3-run lead in the first inning as the first three batters reached base. Luke Williams led off with a single before Braden Shewmake and Vaughn Grissom walked to load the bases. After Jesus Aguilar flew out, Joe Dunad singled to score Williams and Shewmake to make it 2-0. Hoy Park then brought home Grissom on a sac fly to make it 3-0.

Justus Sheffield was called on to start in place of Max Fried, who was supposed to make his final rehab start but fell ill prior to game time, and gave up a run in the bottom of the first and two runs in the bottom of the third as Jacksonville tied the game at 3-3. Sheffield would limit the damage to the three runs across five innings to keep the game knotted up.

Neither team would score in the fourth, fifth or sixth innings as the Stripers would take the lead in the top of the seventh. Justin Dean launched a two-out double before Williams singled him home to make it 4-3 Gwinnett.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jackson Stephens allowed one run as the Jumbo Shrimp tied the game at 4-4. Stephens would subsequently allow another run in the bottom of the ninth as Jacksonville walked it off for the 5-4 win.

(41-49) Mississippi Braves 3, (55-36) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 4

• Cody Milligan, CF: 3-4, 2 2B
• Tyler Tolve, C: 1-4, 2B
• Jesse Franklin V, DH: 1-4, R, RBI
• Tyler Owens, SP: 4 IP, 4 H, ER, 5 K

Box Score

While they may not have fallen victim to a walkoff like their Triple-A counterparts, Mississippi still fell short as a result of allowing a run in the final inning.

Starter Tyler Owens allowed a run in the top of the first inning as Pensacola took a 1-0 lead early on. While they wouldn’t score in the home half, Mississippi plated two runs in the bottom of the second inning to take their first lead of the game. Tyler Tolve laced a leadoff double followed by an RBI-single by Jesse Franklin V two batters later to make it 1-1. Cade Bunnell grounded out before Landon Stephens singled home Franklin, making it 2-1 Braves.

Hayden Deal replaced Owens in the top of the fifth inning and tossed a scoreless frame before allowing two runs in the top of the sixth as Pensacola took a 3-2 lead. The Braves got one of those runs in the bottom of the seventh as Milligan doubled home Bunnell to tie it at 3-3.

In the top of the ninth, reliever Kyle Wilcox allowed one run as the Blue Wahoos staved off the Braves in the bottom half of the inning to hand Mississippi the loss.

(42-50) Rome Braves 3, (37-50) Asheville Tourists 8

• Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 3-4, BB, R
• Drake Baldwin, C: 2-5, 2B, RBI
• Ethan Workinger, LF: 2-4, 2B
• Justin Janas, 1B: 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• Ian Mejia, SP: 6 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 4 K

Box Score

Despite outhitting Asheville, the Rome Braves fell by an 8-3 margin in Wednesday’s matchup.

Rome plated the first run in the top of the second inning in a big way as Justin Janas launched a one-out homer over the right center field fence to make it 1-0. The Braves extended their lead in the top of the third inning by two runs. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. drew a leadoff walk before Nacho Alvarez doubled him to third. Drake Baldwin followed that up with a single of his own to score Kilpatrick, making it 2-0. Two batters later, KeShawn Ogans singled in Alvarez, extending the Rome lead to 3-0.

That lead quickly evaporated as starter Ian Mejia allowed two runs in the bottom of the third and one run in the bottom of the fourth as Asheville tied the game at 3-3.

Offensively, the Braves wouldn’t be able to scratch anything across the plate after the third inning.

The Tourists took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth, as Mejia allowed three runs, making it 6-3. Rome reliever Hunter Riggins allowed one run in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings, as Asheville extended their lead to 8-3, which would hold to be the final score in this one.

(42-49) Augusta GreenJackets 4, (45-47) Charleston RiverDogs 7

• Ambioris Tavarez, 1-5, HR, RBI, R
• Eliezel Stevens, 1B: 2-3, 2 2B, RBI, R, BB
• Jhancarlos Lara, SP: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, BB, 5 K

Box Score

Ambioris Tavarez homered for the second time in as many days, but it proved to be not enough as Augusta fell to Charleston.

It only took five pitches for the GreenJackets to score first, as Tavarez homered to leadoff the game as Augusta took a 1-0 lead. That lead was incredibly brief as starter Jhancarlos Lara allowed one run in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1-1.

Augusta retook the lead in the top of the fourth inning, scoring three times. Bryson Worrell reached on an error as Jair Casanova walked to put him into scoring position. Eliezel Stevens then doubled to plate Worrell and advance Casanova to third, making it 2-1. Casanova then scored on a sac fly off the bat of Francisco Floyd to make it 3-1 GreenJackets before Dawson Dimon singled Stevens home, extending the lead to 4-1.

Lara gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Charleston was able to cut the lead to 4-2. The GreenJackets lead went out the window in the bottom of the fifth, as Lara allowed three more runs to make it 5-4 RiverDogs. Lara was relieved by Chad Bryant who put out the fire.

After spinning a scoreless sixth inning, Bryant allowed two runs in the bottom of the seventh, extending the Charleston lead to 7-4. At the plate, it would be rough the rest of the way as Augusta tallied just five baserunners beyond the fourth inning in the loss.