Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: Mike Soroka makes second rehab start

Sunday afternoon for the Atlanta Braves affiliates was a starting pitching show, starting with a pair of pitching performances in Gwinnett. Mike Soroka started off the Stripers’ win and Freddy Tarnok struck out six over his 3 ²⁄₃ innings of relief. The Munoz brothers also delivered, totaling 11 strikeouts over 7 ²⁄₃ innings.

(58-59) Gwinnett Stripers 8, (59-57) Memphis RedBirds 6

Box Score

• Greyson Jenista, RF: 2-4, .213/.284/.395
• Hernan Perez, LF: 4-5, 3 RBI, .268/.309/.390
• Hendrik Clementina, C: 1-3, BB, 4 RBI, .174/.269/.435
• Mike Soroka, SP: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 5.40 ERA
• Freddy Tarnok, RP: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 2.08 ERA

While the biggest storyline of this game was the second rehab start for Mike Soroka, the Stripers offense ended up providing the headlines with an eight-run performance. Gwinnett never trailed in this game and a lot of that was courtesy of the red-hot Hernan Perez, who drove home two runs in the first inning to give Gwinnett a 2-0 lead. The RedBirds did come back to tie the game in the fourth inning but that was answer by Gwinnett’s biggest inning which drove them to this victory. The Stripers loaded the bases with no outs, bringing catcher Hendrik Clementina to the plate. Clementina crushed one to the power alley in deep left center field that sailed over the wall for a go-ahead grand slam. Armed with a big lead Gwinnett wasn’t done just yet and Perez drove in his third run of the game later in the inning on another single. The Stripers added an eighth run on a solo home run from Tyler White in the fifth inning and then cruised from there to an 8-6 win.

Soroka’s first crack at Triple-A on his rehab tour didn’t go so hot, as the Memphis RedBirds were keyed in on him and he struggled to miss bats in the game. Despite not having any strikeouts to his name his whiff rate through two innings was solid as he got six whiffs on the first fifteen swings, but the second time through the order he got just one more swinging strike on sixteen swings. While many of the batted balls against him were your standard routine ground balls it was clear like in his first start in Rome batters were able to make an adjustment the second time through. Memphis tagged him for two runs on four hits in the fourth inning before Soroka had to be pulled with one out. After Jacob Webb put out the fire in the fourth inning it was over to Freddy Tarnok to take some bulk and Tarnok showed out. Tarnok wasn’t exactly efficient and needed 87 pitches to cover 3 ²⁄₃ innings, but he showed off great life on his pitches and struck out six batters. Seth Elledge struggled to close out the ninth inning, allowing four hits and three runs, but managed to put Memphis away to take the final game of the series.

Next Game: 8/23 @ (64-53) Lehigh Valley IronPIgs @ 7:05 PM ET

(51-61) Mississippi Braves 3, (57-50) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 7

Box Score

• Cody Milligan, CF: 1-4, .289/.354/.330
• Landon Stephens, RF: 2-3, .171/.256/.457
• Justyn-Henry Malloy, LF: 0-3, RBI, .278/.397/.407
• Roddery Munoz, SP: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 10.80 ERA
• Odalvi Javier, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2.86 ERA

(52-61) Mississippi Braves 4, (57-51) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3

Box Score

• Cody Milligan, CF: 0-4, .289/.354/.330
• Drew Lugbauer, DH: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, .220/.336/.463
• Justyn-Henry Malloy, LF: 1-3, .278/.397/.407
• Nolan Kingham, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1.50 ERA
• Justin Yeager, RP: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 4.31 ERA

Weather has been a major influence on this entire series, but it finally let up long enough for Mississippi and Pensacola to get in a double header. Both games were primarily pitcher’s duels, with Roddery Munoz bouncing back in his second Double-A start to give a tremendous performance. Munoz was tagged for a home run in the sixth inning but otherwise shut down the Blue Wahoos and gave the Mississippi offense a chance to win the game. Odalvi Javier covered the 1 ¹⁄₃ innings of baseball that Munoz didn’t and held the score close so it was a one run game going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Mississippi needed to awaken quickly and Landon Stephens was there to deliver the first blow with a one out single. This was followed by a hit from Andrew Moritz and Justin Dean was brought in at second base to be a pinch-runner for Stephens. A fly out from Jordan Cowan advanced Dean to third base but cost Mississippi their precious second out, bringing up Riley Delgado as the last hope. Delgado came through with a clutch game-tying hit that sent the game to extra innings. Mississippi turned to Justin Maese to try to keep it a 1-1 game going into the bottom of the eighth inning and he did about as poorly as one can when he allowed six runs before being pulled with two outs. Mississippi scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate with two outs, but Jordan Cowan struck out looking to end the game.

Nolan Kingham matched Munoz’s efforts in game two, and thankfully had a bit of offensive support to help him along the way. Drew Lugbauer cranked a two-run home run in the first inning to give Mississippi a lead and they never surrendered it on the way to a 4-3 win. Justin Dean doubled to move Cade Bunnell to third in the second inning and Mississippi was able to add on both of those when Jalen Miller singled them home to make it 4-0. Kingham relied on his sinker to get him through six innings, needing just 67 pitches to hold Pensacola to one run. Kingham recorded 11 ground ball outs in the game as the Blue Wahoos struggled to square him up with any consistency. Justin Yeager had the job to close out a 4-1 game and he did his best to make it close when he allowed a two run home run to get the Blue Wahoos within a run. Yeager shut the door though, striking out the final batter to take a split of the day.

Next Game: 8/23 @ (51-63) Birmingham Barons @ 8:05 PM ET

(67-45) Rome Braves, (48-62) Greensboro Grasshoppers PPD

Next Game: 8/23 @ (68-44) Bowling Green Hot Rods @ 7:35 PM ET

(58-55) Augusta GreenJackets 9, (76-38) Charleston RiverDogs 10

Box Score

• Kadon Morton, LF: 1-3, HR, BB, 4 RBI, .229/.339/.368
• Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., CF: 2-5, 2 RBI, .357/.438/.429
• Justin Janas, 1B: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .324/.366/.405
• Rolddy Munoz, SP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 5.96 ERA
• Darling Florentino, RP: 2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 5.87 ERA

Augusta and Charleston took part in a back-and-forth contest that ended unfortunately with Charleston getting the upper hand in extra innings. The bottom of the order catalyzed an early lead for the GreenJackets, with Kevin Kilpatrick singling home Adam Zebrowski to put Augusta on top. Kadon Morton followed by crushing his ninth home run of the season to drive in three runs and push Augusta’s lead to four. The offense was quiet after that home run, but in the fifth inning had a huge opportunity to add on to a 4-3 lead when they loaded the bases with one out. The next two batters struck out, leaving the GreenJackets empty-handed. Charleston took off from their and had a 7-4 lead in the eighth inning, prompting a little bit of action from the GreenJackets offense. Justin Janas and EJ Exposito each reached base and Morton got Augusta a bit closer with a sacrifice fly. Charleston came right back to answer with a run of their own and the GreenJackets needed a spark to make a three run comeback in the bottom of the ninth. A fielding error to lead off the inning gave them that jump and they loaded the bases with one out for Janas and the bottom of the lineup. Janas was hit by a pitch to force home a run and Kilpatrick got an infield single to bring Augusta within a run. While the GreenJackets didn’t take the opportunity to walk it off a wild pitch scored Mahki Backstrom to send the game to extra innings. Charleston put up two runs in the top of the tenth and the only good bounce for the GreenJackets in the bottom of the inning was an error that only scored one run. David McCabe struck out to end the game with Augusta just short of a comeback victory.

Augusta gave the bullpen door a workout with seven pitchers used in this game, and unfortunately they struggled to find many effective pitchers. Rolddy Munoz had far-and-away the best performance of the day and of his career as he struck out five batters over two scoreless innings. Elison Joseph gave Augusta a scoreless third inning but after this the game went off of the rails. Estarlin Rodriguez allowed three runs in the fourth inning and the next pitcher Darling Florentino allowed a three-run home run in the seventh inning that put Charleston on top. Ronaldo Alesandro and Juan Mateo each allowed a run in the final two innings before Mateo was the man to allow to in the tenth and take a loss.

Next Game: 8/23 @ (70-44) Myrtle Beach Pelicans @ 7:05 PM ET