Jurrjens Pitches Well, Simmons Is Perfect, And La Stella, Gattis, And Lipka Stay Hot In Sunday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap

Jair Jurrjens pitched well in his first start since his demotion, Andrelton Simmons reached all 5 times he came to the plate, Tommy La Stella, Evan Gattis, and Matt Lipka kept their hot streaks going, and Elmer Reyes extended his hitting streak to 7 games.

Gwinnett Braves 2, Toledo Mud Hens 1, 10 innings

• Luis Durango CF 2-4, SB (10), .263 AVG
• Jose Constanza LF 1-3, RBI, BB, SF, .313 AVG
• Stefan Gartrell RF 1-3, BB, SB (2), .165 AVG
• Greg Paiml SS 1-3, 2B, BB, E (4), .220 AVG
• Jair Jurrjens 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 1.29 ERA
• Dusty Hughes 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 0.71 ERA
• Jaye Chapman 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 Bb, 2 K, W (1), 1.35 ERA

Jose Constanza plated the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning. Over his last 3 games, the outfielder is 5-12 with 3 RBI and 2 walks. Luis Durango had a pair of hits and his league leading tenth stolen base. In his last 6 games, he's gone 10-23 with 2 doubles, a triple, a RBI, 4 walks, and 2 steals. Jair Jurrjens' first start since being demoted from Atlanta was a good one, as he allowed just 1 run over 7 innings. He was a little wild, walking 4, including back to back walks in the fourth that led to former Brave Matt Young scoring Toledo's lone run. Dusty Hughes made his sixth straight scoreless appearance, pitching 7 innings in that span. Jaye Chapman picked up the win in extra innings with his eighth straight scoreless appearance. During that stretch he's also picked up 2 saves and has struck out 13 in 11 innings while allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks.

Julio Teheran will start the series finale against Toledo Monday night.

Mississippi Braves 3, Huntsville Stars 7

• Andrelton Simmons SS 4-4, BB, 2 SB (5, 6), .321 AVG
• Adam Milligan LF 2-4, 2B, HR (1), 2 RBI, .189 AVG
• Gary Moran 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 4.30 ERA
• Ryan Buchter 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 2.31 ERA
• Mark Lamm 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1.54 ERA

Andrelton Simmons reached base every time he came to the plate, collecting 4 singles and a walks, and also stole a pair of bases. In his last 9 games, the 22 year old has gone 15-35 with 5 doubles, 10 RBI, 5 walks, and 3 steals. He's walking in 8% of his plate appearances, compared to 5% last season. Adam Milligan hit his first homer of the year, and also added a double, driving in a pair of runs. That broke a 0-7 skid in his last 2 games that saw him strike out 5 times. Gary Moran didn't walk anyone today, but he was very hittable, allowing 8 hits and 5 runs in just 4.1 innings pitched. Ryan Buchter made his eighth straight scoreless appearance, and in that span he's struck out 13 over 10.1 innings.

The M-Braves have an off day on Monday, then begin a series against the Mobile Bay Bears on Tuesday, with Jose Lugo set to start the opener.

Lynchburg Hillcats 7, Frederick Keys 6

• Matt Lipka CF 3-4, BB, SB (4), .266 AVG
• Tim Smith DH 2-3, 2 BB, .667 AVG
• Tommy La Stella 2B 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, .362 AVG
• Evan Gattis C 2-2, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, .385 AVG
• Edward Salcedo 3B 1-4, 2 RBI, BB, .277 AVG
• Matt Weaver SS-LF 1-4, HR (3), RBI, BB, E (2), .346 AVG
• Gus Schlosser 6.1 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 K, W (3), 4.31 ERA

Evan Gattis had another big day, with 2 doubles, 2 walks, and 2 RBI. In his last 4 games, he's gone 5-15 with 3 doubles, a homer, and 3 RBI. He currently leads the Carolina League in hits (30), homers (9), RBI (29), total bases (64), and OPS (1.289). Tommy La Stella, who is leading the league in OBP at .480, had a fine day as well, with a pair of hits, including a double, a walk, and 2 RBI. In his last 3 games, he's gone 6-13 with 2 doubles, a homer, and 5 RBI. After a cold start, Matt Lipka has been on fire lately, with a 3 hit day today to extend his hitting streak to 5 games. During that span, he's gone 9-21 with a doubles, 3 walks, and 2 stolen bases. Tim Smith had a great debut with the team, reaching in 4 of his 5 plate appearances. Gus Schlosser's 4 walks were a season high, but he managed to work around them, allowing 1 earned run, and 2 unearned runs, in 6.1 innings of work.

The Hillcats head back to Lynchburg tomorrow, where Ronan Pacheco will take the mound as they begin a series against the Carolina Mudcats.

Rome Braves 5, Kannapolis Intimidators 8

• Felix Marte CF 2-5, 2 RBI, E (3), .235 AVG
• Elmer Reyes SS 1-5, HR (1), RBI, .239 AVG
• Jakob Dalfonso 1B 2-3, BB, .412 AVG
• AJ Holland 4 IP, 8 ER, 11 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 5.20 ERA
• Carlos Perez 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 12.38 ERA
• Clint Wright 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 8.22 ERA

AJ Holland had an awful start, allowing 11 hits and 8 runs in just 4 innings. The 22 year old righty only allowed 3 runs over 19.2 innings in his first 3 starts, but in his last 2 starts he's given up 13 runs in 8 innings. In his last 3 starts, Carlos Perez allowed 22 earned runs over 9 innings, but, pitching in relief today, he managed to work 3 shutout innings. Felix Marte had a pair of singles and drove in a pair of runs, extending his hitting streak to 4 games. During that span, he's gone 5-18 with a double and 5 RBI. Jakob Dalfonso is doing his best to work his way back to Lynchburg, with hits in all 4 games he's played in for Rome since his demotion, going 7-17 with a double, a triple, and 3 RBI. Elmer Reyes hit his first homer of the year, extending his hitting streak to 7 games. He's gone 9-31 with 4 doubles, a triple, a homer, and 3 RBI during that span. One thing he hasn't done this year is walk, taking just 2 free passes in 93 trips to the plate, an even lower walk rate than the 4% he put up last season.

Rome will take on Kannapolis in the series finale tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM.