Drake improved his season OPS to .850 with Wednesday’s performance
There weren’t too many individual performances to highlight on Wednesday, but overall there were plenty of team finals that stood out. So, without further ado, let’s get into Wednesday’s action down on the farm.
(8-8) Gwinnett Stripers 8, (12-5) Lehigh Valley 4
- Jose Devers, 1-3, 3 RBI
- Luke Waddell, SS: 1-3, 2 RBI, R, BB
- Conner Capel, DH: 1-4, RBI, R
- Chasen Shreve, SP: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, K
Gwinnett may have been outhit 7-6 on Wednesday, but it wouldn’t matter as the Stripers came away with the victory to get back to .500 on the year.
The Stripers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the home half after Alex Verdugo and Charles Leblanc laced back-to-back singles to begin the frame after Eddy Alvarez grounded out. A Luke Waddell single plated Verdugo to make it a 1-0 ballgame before a Jose Devers sac fly extended the lead to 2-0.
While Lehigh Valley knotted things up in the top of the second — and eventually took the lead after scoring twice more in the top of the third — Gwinnett would ultimately get the lead back in the bottom of the third. Alvarez ledoff with a single and after stealing second base, Leblanc and Waddell drew walks to load the bases. Devers then singled into right field to plate Alvarez and Leblanc to tie things up before an RBI-single off the bat of Conner Capel later in the inning gave the Stripers the lead at 5-4.
Gwinnett would extend their lead in the home half of the fourth inning, plating two runs in the frame. Cody Miligan and Alvarez drew back-to-back walks to begin the inning before both runners moved into scoring position on a Verdugo fielder’s choice. After Milligan scored on a Leblanc sac fly, Alvarez would cross the plate on a Waddell groundout to make it 7-4 Gwinnett.
The final run of the game would come as Capel scored on a wild pitch on a strikeout in the eighth inning to make it an 8-4 game which would hold as the final.
(5-5) Columbus Clingstones 1, (8-3) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 4
- Cal Conley, SS: 1-4, R
- Adam Zebrowski, C: 1-4, RBI
- Drue Hackeburg, SP: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K
Despite matching Penscola hit for hit, Columbus was outscored 4-1 on Wednesday in the loss.
Starter Drue Hackenburg did his part, tossing 5.2 innings while allowing three runs — two earned — in the loss. While he managed to strike out three on the night, Hackeburg’s command was less-than-stellar as he walked five batters which was ultimately his downfall in this one.
After Hackeburg walked a pair of batters to open up the second inning, Pensacola hit a sac fly to score their first run of the game to take a 1-0 lead. The Blue Wahoos would tag Hackenburg for another run in the top of the fourth inning to extend their lead to 2-0 before Columbus finally got on the board.
Cal Conley singled on a 2-2 pitch into center field before David McCabe and Drew Compton were retired for the first two outs in the inning. With a full count, Adam Zebrowksi singled back up the middle to plate Conley for Columbus’ only run on the night to put the game at 2-1.
Hackleburg allowed an additional (unearned) run as the Blue Wahoos extended their lead to 3-1.
Pensacola got an additional run off the Columbus bullpen to extend their lead to 4-1, which would be more than enough to hold the Clingstones at bay in the loss.
(5-6) Rome Emperors 0, (5-5) Asheville Tourists 2
- Titus Dumitru, LF: 1-4
- JR Ritchie, SP: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
There wasn’t much to write home about Rome’s performance on Wednesday. The Emperors tallied just one hit on the day — a single off the bat of Titus Dumitru — in the shutout loss.
On top of the lack of hits, Rome was also incredibly impatient at the plate, drawing a measly three walks but striking out an even dozen times.
The somewhat good news is that the Emperors’ pitching staff similarly held the Asheville offense in check, striking out 11 Tourists while walking three.
Starter JR Ritchie lasted 4.2 innings, scattering four hits while allowing two runs. Ritchie also walked a pair of batters, but struck out six. While the stats on the surface are decent, Ritchie has an issue with working too deep into counts and leaving things in the zone in an effort to get batters out.
On Wednesday, Ritchie threw 87 pitches in his 4.2 innings of work, 54 of which were strikes. Granted he’s still working his way through a full season, but if Ritchie can find a way to work more efficiently and continue to put up strong strikeout numbers, he should be fine.
Rome’s relievers performed really well on Wednesday as well. Rob Griswold, Luis Vargas and Tyler LaPorte combined to throw 4.1 innings of scoreless ball while striking out five and not allowing a hit. In his respective two innings of work, Vargas struck out four of the six batters he faced.
Obviously, when there’s only one hit in the game, there isn’t much to showcase on the offensive side of things. Each Rome starter struck out at least once and, as mentioned above, the Emperors reached via a hit just once. Rome did, however, manage to put three runners in scoring position, but failed to bring a single one home. So there’s a little bit of a bright spot.
(6-5) Augusta GreenJackets 11, (4-7) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4
- Owen Carey, CF: 3-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R
- Isaiah Drake, RF: 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
- Mac Guscette, C: 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI, R
- Nick Montgomery, DH: 0-1, R, 4 BB
- Riley Frey, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
In terms of Atlanta’s affiliates who dominated on Wednesday, Augusta was by far the frontrunner as the GreenJackets plated 11 runs on 12 hits while allowing just four runs from the opposition in their win.
Starter Riley Frey didn’t provide much room for error for Augusta — as the 22-year-old allowed three earned runs across five innings — despite striking out six batters in his five innings of work. Meanwhile the rest of the Augusta pitching staff held things at bay, as relievers Trent Buchanan and Jacob Kroeger tossed four scoreless innings with five strikeouts and just two hits surrendered.
While the Augusta pitching was solid, the real impact came from the offense in this one.
After being held scoreless in the first two frames, the GreenJackets finally broke through on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third innings. Owen Carey doubled and Nick Montgomery drew the first of his four walks on the night before an Eric Hartman single loaded the bases in the frame. A single off the bat of Isaiah Drake scored both Carey and Montgomery to stake Frey and the GreenJackets to a 2-0 lead in this one. Hartman would later score on a passed ball to make it 3-0.
Myrtle Beach would take the lead after scoring four runs off of Frey in the top of the fourth, both the GreenJackets would bounce back in the home half.
Leiker Figueroa, John Gil and Carey all singled to begin the frame and load the bases. After Montgomery struck out, Hartman was hit by a pitch to score Figueroa to tie the game at 4-4. A double off the bat of Mac Guscette cleared the bases, scoring Gil, Carey and Hartman to give Augusta the 7-4 lead as the GreenJackets never looked back.
The GreenJackets got an RBI-single from Carey in the bottom of the fifth and an RBI-groundout off the bat of Luis Sanchez in the home half of the sixth to extend the lead to 9-4 on the night.
The final runs of the game came courtesy of Sanchez and Figueroa who both drove in a run in the bottom of the eight to make it an 11-4 game for the GreenJackets, which would hold as the final in this one.