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Gwinnett Stripers 5, Charlotte Knights 4
- Dustin Peterson, RF: 3-5, RBI, .255/.319/.389
- Preston Tucker, LF: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .232/.259/.339
- Lucas Sims, SP: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 2.04 ERA
Lucas Sims continued to dominate down in Triple-A and Gwinnett held on to win by the final score of 5-4. While it can be easy to get caught up in the struggles that Lucas Sims has had in the Braves’ bullpen, in the minors this season he has been pretty dominant as a starter. Over his last couple of starts, he has thrown 14 innings without giving up an earned run or a walk for that matter. He would rank second in the International League in ERA if he qualified for the leaderboard (not enough innings due to being bounced around between Gwinnett and Atlanta). Jacob Webb had his second straight poor relief appearance, but managed to secure the win for Gwinnett in the end.
Gwinnett got contributions from up and down the lineup with four different players (Dustin Peterson, Preston Tucker, Rob Brantly, and Sal Giardina) all having multi-hit games for the club. Peterson in particular has shown signs of life of late as he has a modest four game hitting streak as he looks to get going again.
Mississippi Braves 1, Birmingham Barons 0
- Tyler Neslony, RF: 1-4, HR, RBI, .236/.283/.312
- Travis Demeritte, LF: 0-4, 2 K, .215/.316/.373
- Bryse Wilson, SP: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 4.81 ERA
Bryse Wilson looks like he has figured things out again after a tough start to his time in Double-A as Mississippi shut out Birmingham by the score of 1-0. He has now had two straight scoreless starts (16 Ks in 13.1 innings with just one walk) and has given up two runs or less in five of his last six starts. Kelvin Vasquez and Chad Sobotka combined for 2.2 scoreless innings of relief to secure the win.
Not much to talk about on offense as the Braves managed just four hits on the day. Fortunately, one of those hits was a Tyler Neslony solo home run in the 1st inning which proved to be the game winner as it was the only run that either team scored on the day. Neslony has looked much better to start the month of July as his current 1.123 OPS so far in the month is higher than if you added his OPS from May and June together.
Florida Fire Frogs 2, Palm Beach Cardinals 1
- Isranel Wilson, CF: 2-5, SB, run, .231/.259/.308
- Brett Cumberland, DH: 2-3, 2B, BB, .236/.365/.405
- Ian Anderson, SP: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 2.96 ERA
Ian Anderson continues to show out for Florida and the Fire Frogs got the job done in a 2-1 win over Palm Beach. Ian had a rocky start to the season, but has himself on track and is starting to dominate the Florida State League. This was his second straight scoreless outing and he currently sports an 11.13 K/9 in 2018. With his command improving and him proving, so far, that he can withstand the rigors of full season ball, he should continue his climb up prospect rankings. Also, congratulations to Brandon White for finally getting promoted from Rome and debuting in high-A.
On offense, Brett Cumberland reached base three times as he is putting together another one of his weird seasons. We are just glad that he has cut down on the HBPs a bit (only 6 this year after totaling 41 in 2017) as we want him to survive the season. Izzy Wilson added a pair of hits out of the leadoff spot with Cristian Pache out of the lineup. Braxton Davidson had a double and an RBI, but it appears that he unreal hot streak is officially over as he has six hits over his last 10 games.
Rome Braves 3, Augusta GreenJackets 5 - Game One
- Drew Waters, CF: 1-3, run, 2 SB, BB, .289/.339/.509
- Jefrey Ramos, LF: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, .242/.275/.416
- Alan Rangel, SP: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 5.55 ERA
Rome Braves 0, Augusta GreenJackets 4 - Game Two
- Greyson Jenista, RF: 1-3, .320/.370/.480
- Hayden Deal, SP: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1.98 ERA
Rome struggled in their doubleheader with Augusta as they were swept by the scores of 5-3 and 4-0. Alan Rangel struggled as he failed to get to 5 IP for the first time since the beginning of May while Hayden Deal was excellent in his six innings of work, but unfortunately the offense didn’t score any runs for him and the bullpen faltered late in the game. Keep an eye on Deal: he has made three starts for Rome this year and has given up a total of one earned run in those starts.
Greyson Jenista, the Braves’ 2nd round pick in the draft, had hits in each half of the doubleheader and Jefrey Ramos connected for a two-run homer. Drew Waters didn’t have a great twin bill, but did manage to reach base twice and steal a pair of bases because...well, he’s Drew. Jean Carlos Encarnacion has struggled mightily of late as he is seeing a healthy dose of breaking balls and offspeed stuff. He will have to make an adjustment and soon.
Danville Braves 3, Elizabethton Twins 1
- Andrew Moritz, CF: 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, .328/.400/.466
- AJ Graffanino, SS: 1-4, .407/.400/.407
- Jose Montilla, SP: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 1.54 ERA
Andrew Moritz and AJ Graffanino just keep hitting as Danville takes down Elizabethton by the score of 3-1. Moritz had a three game span where he failed to record a hit, but other than that he has been a man on a mission in rookie ball and he has 10 hits over his last three games. CJ Alexander has reached base in every game he has played in as a pro this year (15 games total) and has failed to record a hit just once (he walked three times in that game).