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Braves Minor League Recap: Vines takes out the Trash Pandas

Darius Vines had six scoreless innings while AJ Smith-Shawver and Kyle Muller also threw very strong starts on Thursday.

Mills Fitzner

Thursday was a great night for starting pitching in the Atlanta Braves farm system. Each of the four starters went at least six innings on the day, with Darius Vines and Luis De Avila both having scoreless outings. Kyle Muller and AJ Smith-Shawver allowed a pair of runs and combined to strike out 15 hitters over 12 innings.

Durham Bulls 5, Gwinnett Stripers 3

Box Score

  • Alex Dickerson, RF: 2-4, 2B, .725 OPS
  • Hernan Perez, 3B: 3-4, 2 R, SB, .586 OPS
  • Kyle Muller, SP: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 2.96 ERA

Kyle Muller threw a very strong game in this one, giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks over six innings with seven strikeouts. A very solid game, and always a good sign for Muller when he is able to limit the walks like he did here. Unfortunately the pen let him down. Tyler Ferguson threw a scoreless inning following Muller, but Jacob Webb allowed three runs in his inning of work, before a scoreless inning out of Roel Ramirez to finish the game off.

The offense didn’t do a ton here outside of the bottom of the order. Alex Dickerson went 2-for-4 with a double and Hernan Perez was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a stolen base. Those No. 7/8 hitters plus No. 9 hitter Ryan Goins combined for six of the nine Gwinnett hits and two of the three runs. Beyond them, the best showing came from Braden Shewmake, who went 1-for-4 with a double, walk, run scored, and two stolen bases in the loss.

Mississippi Braves 3, Rocket City Trash Pandas 1

Box Score

  • Justyn-Henry Malloy, LF: 2-4, 2 RBI
  • Vaughn Grissom, SS: 1-4
  • Darius Vines, SP: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 4.60 ERA

Darius Vines threw a gem on Thursday, allowing two hits and two walks over six shutout innings. Jake Higginbotham followed and allowed the one run against the Braves in his inning before Indigo Diaz and Justin Maese threw a scoreless frame apiece to finish off the Trash Pandas.

The offense was quiet in this game, but they did just enough to get the job done and claim the win on Thursday. The Braves scored three runs on eight hits, but no extra base hits and only one player had a multi-hit game. Justyn-Henry Malloy accounted for two of those hits and picked up his first two RBI since his promotion to Double A. Vaughn Grissom went 1-for-4 at the plate while Cody Milligan and Yariel Gonzalez each reached base twice.

Rome Braves 2, Bowling Green Hot Rods 0

Box Score

  • Drew Campbell, CF: 2-4, SB, .690 OPS
  • Landon Stephens, RF: 1-4, 2 RBI, .866 OPS
  • Luis De Avila, SP: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 3.83 ERA

Luis De Avila allowed two hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings while picking up four strikeouts for Rome. Austin Smith struck out three over 1 1/3 innings of relief before Trey Riley finished the game off with a scoreless inning and three strikeouts himself.

The offense here didn’t so much, but once again did just enough. Drew Campbell and Jacob Pearson had two hits each while Landon Stephens drove in two. Cade Bunnell picked up the only other Rome hit.

Augusta GreenJackets 3, Fredericksburg Nationals 2

Box Score

  • Kadon Morton, CF: 1-2, BB, 2B, R, .655 OPS
  • Geraldo Quintero, 2B: 1-4, 2 RBI, .803 OPS
  • AJ Smith-Shawver, SP: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 8 K, 4.88 ERA

AJ Smith-Shawver completed the great night of pitching in the system, allowing two runs over going six innings while striking out eighth in a battle against Nats 2018 first round pick Mason Denaburg. Ronaldo Alesandro, Alex Segal, and Rob Griswold each threw a scoreless inning in this one-run game.

Kadon Morton doubled and reached base twice, scoring one of the runs. Eliezel Stevens also doubled, and Brandon Parker picked up a triple. Geraldo Quintero drove in two.

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