Prospect achievements were few on the farm for the Atlanta Braves, with the biggest being Braden Shewmake’s solid day in Gwinnett. Vaughn Grissom’s long on base and hitting streak came to an end in Mississippi’s blowout loss.
(46-47) Gwinnett Stripers 5, (51-42) Memphis Redbirds 6
- Ryan Goins, SS: 2-5, .217/.246/.273
- Braden Shewmake, 2B: 1-3, 2B, BB, RBI, .261/.317/.393
- Ryan Casteel, C: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, .216/.298/.520
- Bryce Elder, SP: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 4.76 ERA
- Jay Jackson, RP: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1.29 ERA
A late game rally for the Stripers set up an exciting finish in this game. Gwinnett struggled to get any offensive momentum for much of this game, and trailed it 4-0 after four innings. In the top of the fifth inning they finally managed to scratch out a run, with three straight batters reaching base with two outs. This sequence was culminated by a Pat Valaika RBI single to score Ryan Goins. This short rally did not turn into any momentum, but a three run home run from Ryan Casteel in the eighth was the boost they needed to put them up 4-3 in the game. Memphis put up a run in the bottom of the eighth inning which sent the game to the ninth tied with the top of the Gwinnett order coming to the plate. Delino DeShields Jr. worked a walk, advanced on a ground out, then stole third base to put him 90 feet away from taking the lead. Braden Shewmake was able to put the ball in play, lifting a sacrifice fly into center field that put Gwinnett on top.
Bryce Elder had to navigate runners throughout his six innings on the mound, and these struggles got to him in the first few innings. A leadoff double in the second inning put him in immediate danger, and two pitches later that came to roost on a Luken Baker RBI single. The biggest inning came in the third, which kicked off with a leadoff home run. Elder allowed two more hits in the inning and then an RBI ground out that put the Redbirds up 3-0. Elder again ran into trouble in the fourth inning with a leadoff walk and two base hits allowed, but sandwiched a double play between the walk and the hits which kept the game closer. Elder ended the game with his best, retiring seven consecutive hitters to end the outing with strikeouts of the final two. After a scoreless seventh inning from Roel Ramirez the Stripers took the first of those leads and Jay Jackson was tasked with protecting it in the eighth. He did not do that, allowing a leadoff home run to tie the game. Thomas Burrows got a chance in the ninth to do what Jackson couldn’t do, but he didn't even record an out. Burrows allowed a leadoff single to put the tying run on base, then a walk off home run to the next hitter to sink the Stripers.
Next Game: 7/26 vs (50-43) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp @ 7:05 PM ET
(44-46) Mississippi Braves 1, (41-42) Montgomery Biscuits 15
- Vaughn Grissom, SS: 0-4, .368/.415/.500
- Cody Milligan, 2B: 1-3, BB, .238/.308/.257
- Justyn-Henry Malloy, LF: 0-4, .188/.333/.313
- Alan Rangel, SP: 3 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, 5.57 ERA
- Kirby Yates, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
Yariel Gonzalez hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to give Mississippi a run, but that was about all of the good feelings this game gave us as it otherwise was a disaster. Even Vaughn Grissom went 0-4, ending his 19 game hitting streak and 45 game on base streak, the latter of which dated all the way back to May 27th. It was a cold ending to the weekend for the offense and perhaps an even worse one for the pitching staff
Alan Rangel simply did not have it in this game, as his command was all over the place and what pitches he did get into the zone got hit hard. Montgomery jumped out to a five-run first inning, and then started off the second with consecutive doubles to put six on Rangel within the first three outs. Rangel seemed to get a little bit of momentum and didn’t allow a hit in the second and third innings after those two doubles, but he walked three consecutive batters in the fourth inning and was pulled with no outs. Kirby Yates got the ball in the fifth inning, and he delivered the most notable good performance of the day. Yates pitched a perfect inning and struck out two batters to keep his rehab rolling in the right direction. The rest of the bullpen had less positive experiences, with seven runs coming to score against them combined. Only AJ Puckett has a claim to a good day as he got four outs and recorded three of them on strikeouts with no baserunners allowed.
Next Game: 7/26 @ (45-40) Pensacola Blue Wahoos @ 7:35 PM ET
(53-37) Rome Braves 3, (44-46) Winston-Salem Dash 2
- Cal Conley, SS: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .333/.415/.528
- Drew Campbell, CF: 2-4, .288/.345/.366
- Beau Philip, 3B: 1-3, BB, .225/.343/.343
- Royber Salinas, SP: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 4.42 ERA
- Austin Smith, RP: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 4.05 ERA
We finally have come to a game with a pleasant ending, as Rome rode a big fourth inning to a win over the Dash to close the series. Drew Campbell was the only Brave to record a hit through the first four innings of this game, but Royber Salinas held it together on the mound and they only trailed 1-0. With one out in the fifth Beau Philip and Zade Richardson drew walks which chased the Dash starter from the game and gave Rome their best scoring opportunity of the day. Willie Carter came through with an RBI single which tied the game, and with two outs Cal Conley delivered the biggest hit of the game. Conley cracked a double into center field which allowed Richardson and Carter to score to put Rome on top 3-1. The pitching staff took the game home from there, which is good news because the offense had no more gasps to give.
Royber Salinas allowed four hits over his five innings on Sunday afternoon, but the brunt of that damage came early in the game. Salinas allowed three consecutive hits with one out in the first inning, scoring a run to put Rome behind 1-0. With runners on second and third base Salinas was able to get into his rhythm and strike out the next two batters to end the inning. He kept this going through the fourth, retiring a total of nine straight batters with six of those being strikeouts before getting himself into trouble again. Salinas loaded the bases on a double and two walks in the fourth inning, but again wiggled out of it and ended his outing by retiring the last five batters. The bullpen was excellent in relief of Salinas, with one blip coming in the eighth inning. Davis Schwab and Austin Smith each pitched perfect innings to bring it to 12 straight batters retired, but Smith allowed a home run in the second of his innings which brought Winston-Salem within a run. Smith finished that inning with no further trouble by striking out two batters, and Alec Barger closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning.
Next Game: 7/26 @ (48-42) Hickory Crawdads @ 7:00 PM ET
(44-44) Augusta GreenJackets, (32-57) Columbia Fireflies CANCELLED
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