Braves Minor League Recap: Rome loses Game 2, series tied at one game apiece

Thursday saw Rome drop Game 2 in their playoff series to tie the series with Bowling Green at one as the most notable event of the night. We also saw strong performances from Tanner Gordon, Drew Lugbauer, and Jacob Pearson among others and Kyle Muller looked good for most of his start before giving up some runs in his final inning of work.

Durham Bulls 5, Gwinnett Stripers 2

Box Score

• Rylan Bannon, 3B: 2-4, 2B, .797 OPS
• Pat Valaika, 2B: 2-3, 2B, BB, R, .677 OPS
• Kyle Muller, SP: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3.22 ERA

Gwinnett saw Kyle Muller get out of the block strong, giving up just one run through four innings of work. However Muller got tagged for three runs in his fifth and final inning, and that turned the game in Durham’s favor. After Muller, Silvino Bracho allowed a run during an inning before both Danny Young and Seth Elledge each struck out three batters during an inning apiece. Michael Tonkin threw a scoreless inning to finish this one off.

Pat Valaika and Rylan Bannon led the way for the Gwinnett offense in this one. Valaika went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, while Bannon went 2-for-4 with a double of his own to continue a strong series. Those doubles were the only extra base hits for Gwinnett, and outside of those two and a two-hit game from Ryan Goins, the rest of the team combined for just two hits.

Mississippi Braves 5, Montgomery Biscuits 3

Box Score

• Drew Lugbauer, 1B: 3-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, .777 OPS
• Justyn-Henry Malloy, LF: 1-3, BB, R, .847 OPS
• Tanner Gordon, SP: 5 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 5.31 ERA

Tanner Gordon threw five strong innings to help Mississippi pick up a win on Thursday night. Gordon allowed two runs on just one hit and three walks, striking out seven. Coleman Huntley followed and gave up a run over two innings before a scoreless frame apiece from Lisandro Santos and Justin Maese closed out this victory. Overall, the Braves allowed just two hits - one each off Gordon and Huntley, and the three walks that Gordon gave up, while striking out 12.

Drew Lugbauer put on a show in this one, going 3-for-4 and hitting his 28th homer of the season to help get this win. It also sent him over the 80 RBI mark on the season, as he’s up to 81 with a pair in this one. That Lugbauer homer was the only extra base hit besides a double from Jordan Cowan in this balanced offensive performance by the Braves. Justyn-Henry Malloy reached base twice while Arden Pabst went had two hits.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 10, Rome Braves 1

Box Score

• Jacob Pearson, LF: 2-4, HR, R, RBI
• Geraldo Quintero, DH: 1-3
• Rolddy Munoz, RP: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Game 2 of the League Championship Series didn’t go well for Rome right from the start, as Bowling Green tagged starter Luis De Avila for three runs in the first and another in the second before knocking him out. Ian Mejia followed and allowed three runs. Rolddy Munoz pitched a scoreless 2 1/3 with five strikeouts, and Alex Segal kept them off the board for an inning before Miguel Pena let three more across during the final inning to open this one up even further and tie the series at one game apiece.

The offense outside of Jacob Pearson never got going in this one, as Rome combined for just four hits in the loss. Pearson, who had two of the hits, including a solo homer, was the lone standout. Geraldo Quintero and Beau Phillip each singled to account for the rest of the Rome hits.