Braves MiLB recap: Dealin’ Dylan Dodd pitches Rome Braves to victory

It wasn’t pretty on Tuesday night for the young Atlanta Braves. Both Gwinnett and Mississippi lost to the competition while Augusta lost out to rain, putting JJ Niekro’s 22.2 scoreless-inning streak on hold. Rome walked away victorious in a brilliantly pitched baseball game with some pre July 4th fireworks to go round.

Here’s how it went down on the Atlanta Braves farm Tuesday night.

Gwinnett Stripers (35-38) 2, Norfolk Tides (35-38) 8

Box score

• Drew Waters, CF: 1-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K
• Eddie Rosario, DH: 0-for-4, 2 K
• Tucker Davidson, SP: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

After a stellar start last week, Tucker Davidson simply didn’t have it Tuesday night. He landed 45 of 70 pitches for strikes but was hit out of the gate, allowing two doubles and a triple among his seven hits while getting tagged for five early runs. Victor Vodnik came in to try and put out the fire but allowed a run before his 1.1 innings were done. Three other Stripers pitched with Thomas Burrows allowing two runs in his two innings.

Unfortunately, former Brave farmhand, Bruce Zimmermann was on his game Tuesday. He plowed through the Stripers lineup early on, minus Drew Waters who drew a walk and singled in his first two at-bats. Eddie Rosario didn’t reach base in his third rehab appearance. Delino DeShields drove in the first run with a double and Joe Dunand added the second run via homer. Nolan Kingham looks to even the series on Wednesday.

Mississippi Braves (29-41) 2, Biloxi Shuckers (35-33) 3

Box score

• Justin Dean, RF: 1-for-4, 1 SB, 1 K
• Cody Milligan, CF: 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K
• Jared Shuster, SP: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

Jared Shuster absolutely shoved for five innings on Tuesday, dominating the Shuckers lineup, striking out eight hitters. The command wavered just a bit in the sixth and Hayden Deal came on and despite allowing an inherited run to score, held the lead for Mississippi. Deal’s second inning saw him lose the M-Braves lead, but Jake Higginbotham was able to hold Biloxi over 1.2 scoreless innings. Alas, it was not enough.

At the plate, seven Mississippi Braves recorded at least one hit with Yariel Gonzalez having the lone two-hit game, while driving in the M-Braves lone RBI. Justin Dean and Cody Milligan pulled off a double steal in the first inning, giving Dean his 10th stolen base of the season. Alan Rangel is Wednesday’s probable.

Rome Braves (38-32) 2, Greenville Drive (27-43) 1

Box score

• Vaughn Grissom, SS: 0-for-3, 1 BB
• Bryson Horne, 1B: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K
• Dylan Dodd, SP: 6.2 , 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Dylan Dodd was dealing on Tuesday night. To put it in perspective, his lone walk was against the last batter he faced on his 96th pitch and the lone run allowed was also in that final seventh inning on a ball crushed by professional home-run hitter Niko Kavadas. Dodd was simply sensational and will carry a 3.72 ERA into July. Austin Smith picked up his sixth save of the season to close it out.

All the runs scored in the game came via solo blasts. Kavadas did the damage for the Drive, but it was Bryson Horne and Beau Philip with home runs for Rome. It was Horne’s seventh home run of the season and his sixth of June. Andrew Hoffmann is expected to get the ball on Wednesday.

Augusta GreenJackets (38-31), Columbia Fireflies (20-49) PPD.

JJ Niekro’s quest to get to 8-0 will have to wait, as rains pushed Tuesday’s game to Wednesday. The GreenJackets will play a doubleheader Wednesday beginning at 5:05 p.m. ET.