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Thursday saw the Braves system get swept in four games, though we did see a huge day at the plate out of Taylor Motter, Ozzie Albies continue his rehab, strong games from Justyn-Henry Malloy and Tyler Tolve, and some good performances from some 2022 draftees.
Buffalo Bisons 6, Gwinnett Stripers 2
- Taylor Motter, LF: 4-4, 2 HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, .839 OPS
- Ozzie Albies, 2B: 0-3
- Ian Anderson, SP: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 5.40 ERA
It was a tough night overall for Ian Anderson, as he battled his command on his way to allowing four runs, four hits and four walks over 5 1/3 innings. Anderson, who also struck out five, threw just 56 of his 96 pitches for strikes. William Woods allowed two runs and retired just two batters. Victor Vodnik gave up a hit and a walk over his inning, but struck out two and made it out without allowing any runs to score before a clean inning from Danny Young to finish this one off.
Outside of Taylor Motter, this wasn’t a very good performance by the Gwinnett offense. Motter had four hits, including a pair of solo homers to acount for all of the Stripers runs. Illustrating the fact the offense was all Motter last night is the fact that the only hit from another bat was a single by Hendrik Clementina. Ozzie Albies continued his rehab assignment playing second base defensively while going hitless in three plate appearances.
Biloxi Shuckers 5, Mississippi Braves 3
- Justyn-Henry Malloy, LF: 1-1, 4 BB, R, .854 OPS
- Cade Bunnell, SS: 2-4, 2B, BB, R, RBI, 1.051 OPS
- Tanner Gordon, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 5.40 ERA
Tanner Gordon pitched five solid innings in this one, giving up a pair of runs on five hits and two walks as he struck out five. Jasseel De La Cruz allowed a run in an inning of work, followed by a scoreless inning from Coleman Huntley.
Justyn-Henry Malloy keeps showing no adjustment period was needed after being promoted to Double-A, as he reached base five times with a single and four walks. Another midseason promotion also stood out at the dish as Cade Bunnell went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and a run scored. That Bunnell double ended up being the only extra base hit for Mississippi, and the only additional player to reach base more than once was Justin Dean.
Hickory Crawdads 5, Rome Braves 4
- Tyler Tolve, C: 3-5, HR, SB, R, 3 RBI, .801 OPS
- Jacob Pearson, LF: 2-4, BB, 2 R, 2 SB, .732 OPS
- Cal Conley, SS: 2-5, R, .758 OPS
- Ian Mejia, RP: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 4.66 ERA
Eleventh round pick Ian Mejia got the start and pitched very well, though with his typical short workload. Mejia went four innings and allowed two hits and a run. He struck out three in arguably the best outing of his short pro career thus far. RJ Alaniz followed with a scoreless inning and struck out two, and then Jake McSteen followed with two scoreless innings that included three strikeouts. However, Trey Riley struggled allowing four runs while retiring just two batters.
Tyler Tolve led the offense with a three-hit performance that included a homer, a steal and three RBI to bring his season OPS above .800. Jacob Pearson went 2-for-4 with a walk, stole two bases, and scored a pair of runs. Cal Conley had another two-hit game and also scored a run.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3, Augusta GreenJackets 1
- Kevin Kilpatrick, RF: 2-4, RBI, .849 OPS
- Francisco Floyd, 2B: 2-3, BB, R, .717 OPS
- Noah Williams, CF: 1-4, 2B
Landon Leach got the start for Augusta Leach and allowed a pair of unearned runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings. Tyler Owens allowed another unearned run in 1 1/3 innings.
The offensive standouts here were a group of guys up from the FCL. Kevin Kilpatrick went 2-for-4 with an RBI while Francisco Floyd was 2-for-3 with a walk and scored the lone Augusta run.
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