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Gwinnett Stripers 2, Syracuse Mets 0
- Andres Blanco, SS: 2-3, HR, RBI, BB, .821 OPS
- Alex Jackson, C: 1-3, 2B, .766 OPS
- Bryse Wilson, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 3.79 ERA
Bryse Wilson, Sean Newcomb, and Wes Parson combined for a shutout as Gwinnett took down Syracuse by the score of 2-0. Wilson was excellent in going six shutout innings for Gwinnett and it was a nice recovery after giving up five earned runs in his last start. One note, he has exactly one start in the minors this year where he has given up more than two walks. Sean Newcomb is on a rehab assignment after he took a line drive off of his head and he looked great as he struck out five batters in two innings of work. Wes Parsons closed the game out with a scoreless inning of relief to bring his minor league ERA this season down to 1.95 ERA.
It was fortunate that their pitching was so good on Saturday as they did not get much in the way of offense. Andres Blanco and Sean Kazmar had the two multi-hit games for Gwinnett and Blanco connected for his 11th homer of the season in the sixth inning. The Stripers other run came from a pinch-hit appearance from Rafael Ortega which resulted in an RBI double in the 8th inning. Adam Duvall was a fun story to begin the season, but the contact issues have return as he is batting just .121 over his last 10 games. Travis Demeritte continues to hit, though, and extended his hitting streak to seven games.
Mississippi Braves 2, Biloxi Shuckers 5
- Drew Waters, CF: 1-4, 2B, .896 OPS
- Greyson Jenista, LF: 0-3, BB, 2 K, .378 OPS
- Ian Anderson, SP: 6 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 3.20 ERA
Ian Anderson struggled on Saturday as Mississippi fell to Biloxi by the score of 5-2. In fairness to Ian, his line is a little misleading as the bulk of the damage against him came from a three run homer in the 1st inning from one of the better hitters in the Southern League this year, Patrick Leonard. Ian also gave up a solo shot in the sixth inning, but on a positive note, this was Ian’s seventh straight start where he has given up three walks or less which, given how his season started, is good news. Jordan Harrison closed the game out with two innings of scoreless relief.
The offense was a bit scarce in this one, although Drew Waters was not going to be denied as he had a double in the game to extend his hitting streak to 16 games and his on-base streak to 28 which is a little silly. The strikeout rate is a little bit spooky with Drew, but he has shown marked improvement against the more advanced breaking balls and offspeed stuff in Double-A over the last month or so and it is hard to argue with his results since he, along with teammate Cristian Pache who had the night off, are two of the better hitters in the Southern League right now. Unfortunately, that double from Waters was the only extra-base hit on the evening for Mississippi. At this point, one has to be concerned about Greyson Jenista as he has really struggled in Double-A after he had not exactly set the world on fire in high-A. He has exactly five hits (all singles) in 13 games in Double-A.
Florida Fire Frogs 4, St. Lucie Mets 6
- Riley Delgado, SS: 2-4, 2B, BB, .713 OPS
- Trey Harris, RF: 0-2, 2 BB, .966 OPS
- Matt Hartman, SP: 6.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 5.66 ERA
Florida lost a tough one as St. Lucie rallied for six runs in the later innings to down the Fire Frogs by the score of 6-4. Matt Hartman had a strong start and was lights out until he got into the seventh inning and found himself in some trouble. Unfortunately, things did not get better when the bullpen arrived as Lukas Young as he gave up four earned runs (and allowed a couple of inherited runners to score) while recording a single out which gave St. Lucie the lead and ultimately the win.
Trey Harris had a quiet night by his standards as he “only” had a pair of walks in the game. His minor league OPS in 2019 currently sits at 1.017 OPS and he has not shown any signs of slowly down since his promotion to high-A. Riley Delgado had his fourth multi-hit game in his past five games on Saturday. One wishes that he could show a bit more power in games and maybe draw a few more walks, but all this dude does is hit.
Rome Braves 5, Hagerstown Suns 3
- Shea Langeliers, C: 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB
- Braden Shewmake, DH: 2-5, RBI
- Jeremy Fernandez, LF: 2-4, RBI, .721 OPS
- Dilmer Mejia, SP: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1.47 ERA
Shea Langeliers, the 9th overall pick in the draft this year, had himself quite the night on Saturday as he connected for his first home run as a professional in Rome’s 5-3 win over Hagerstown. Shea’s two run shot in the first inning was also his first hit as a pro which is always fun and he would go on to reach base four times in the game. The Braves other first round pick, Braden Shewmake, had himself a nice game as well with a pair of hits and his first professional RBI. Jeremy Fernandez and Ariel Montesino also had multi-hit games for Rome with Fernandez connecting for his first home run of the season.
On the pitching side, Dilmer Mejia was excellent in going five innings while allowing just a single earned run. Luis Mora had a tough relief appearance that saw him walk four batters in less than an inning of work. Jose Montilla pitched the remaining 3.1 innings and he gave up a run on two hits along the way.
Danville Braves 9, Johnson City Cardinals 14
- Bryce Ball, DH: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI
- Michael Mateja, LF: 3-5, 2 2B, RBI
- Cody Milligan, 2B: 2-5, RBI
- Alec Barger, SP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Danville and Johnson City combined for eight errors as the Braves ultimately succumbed by the score of 14-9....welcome to short-season baseball! The bulk of the damage came off of reliever Albinson Volquez who gave up seven runs (five earned) late in the game with Cameron Kurz struggling as well. Bryce Ball just keeps mashing as he connected for his second home run in his first five games as a pro. He currently sports an OPS of 1.473 through is first five games if you are into that sort of thing. Cody Milligan, Michael Mateja, Mitch Calandra, Juan Morales, and Ball all had multi-hit games for Danville.