Elder lowered his Triple-A ERA to 3.63 on the season.
Friday was full of stellar pitching performances by Atlanta farmhands. However, the end results were a bit of a mixed bag for the minor league clubs. So let’s dive in to the action.
(29-32) Gwinnett Stripers 10, (28-33) Durham Bulls 1
- Yuli Gurriel, 1B: 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R
- Ramon Laureano, CF: 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, R
- Bryce Elder, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, R, 2 BB, 9 K
Bryce Elder was fantastic while the Gwinnett offense showed up and showed out in the Stripers’ rout of Durham.
The Stripers jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning. Andrew Velazquez doubled to lead off the frame before the next two Gwinnett batters were retired. Then, with two outs, Yuli Gurriel doubled to plate Velazquez to make it 1-0. Chadwick Tromp followed that up with a ground-rule double, scoring Gurriel to extend the lead to 2-0.
Things were relatively quiet for the next four innings, until Durham cut the Gwinnett lead in half by scoring one run — unearned for Elder — to make it a 2-1 game.
The Stripers broke things open in the top of the sixth inning, scoring three runs. Eli White kicked off the frame with a single before Gurriel launched a two-run homer to make it 4-1. A Skye Bolt single scored Tromp later in the inning to extend the Gwinnett lead to 5-1.
After being held scoreless in the seventh inning, the Stripers continued to pile on in the eighth frame. Tromp and Phillip Evans sandwiched a pair of doubles around a Luke Williams groundout to make it a 6-1 game. Then, Alejo Lopez launched a two-run homer to extend the lead to 8-1 in favor of the Stripers. After Velazquez singled, Ramon Laureano notched his second homer of his Braves tenure to make it a commanding 10-1 Stripers lead, which would be the final.
On the day, Elder tossed six innings of one-run ball while striking out nine batters and only walking a pair.
(25-30) Mississippi Braves 1, (29-25) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3
- Nacho Alvarez Jr., SS: 1-5, RBI
- Bryson Horne, 3-4
- Luis De Avila, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Mississippi may have taken the first lead of the game against Pensacola on Friday, but couldn’t maintain the advantage as the Braves fell to the Blue Wahoos.
David Fletcher doubled in the game’s first at-bat and managed to advance to third base on an error. Nacho Alvarez Jr. then singled into left field to plate Fletcher to make it a 1-0 Mississippi lead.
Mississippi starter Luis De Avila held Pensacola scoreless in the first inning, but the Blue Wahoos managed to tag De Avila for one run in each of the second and third innings to take a 2-1 lead over the Braves.
Despite putting a runner on base in each of the first six innings, the Braves couldn’t find any more offensive consistency beyond the first inning as they were limited to just the one run on the night. Meanwhile, Pensacola added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to make it a 3-1 game.
(30-23) Rome Emperors 3, (27-28) Winston-Salem Dash 5
- Nick Clarno, C: 2-4, 2 RBI
- Jace Grady, RF: 2-5, 2 R
- Lucas Braun, SP: 6.2 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Rome lost a heartbreaker on Friday, losing in extra innings to Winston-Salem by a 5-3 final.
The Dash took the first lead of the game, scoring one run in the bottom of the second inning off of Rome starter Lucas Braun to make it a 1-0 game. Other than the second inning, Braun was spectacular overall, tossing 6.2 innings of one-run ball while striking out six.
The first run for the Emperors came in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jace Grady notched a one-out single before E.J. Exposito walked to put Grady in scoring position. Two batters later, Nick Clarno singled to score Grady and tie the game at 1-1.
From that point through the ninth inning, things were silent offensively for both teams. Neither team went scoreless for the rest of regulation, sending the game into extra innings.
In the top of the tenth inning, the Dash scored one run off of Rome reliever Chad Bryant to take a 2-1 lead. However, the Emperors managed to tie the game on a Clarno single to score Grady to retie the game at 2-2.
After both teams went scoreless in the 11th inning, things turned in the 12th frame.
Winston-Salem tagged the Emperors for three runs in the inning, making it a 5-2 deficit for Rome. The Emperors managed to get one of those runs back in the home half of the inning — as Adam Zebrowski scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3.
However, that would be the only run as Winston-Salem took the game.
(22-32) Augusta GreenJackets 3, (25-29) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 2
- Jeremy Celedonio, DH: 1-2, HR, RBI, R, BB
- Kade Kern, LF: 1-3, 2 R
- Adam Maier, SP: 6.1 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Augusta was on the right end of a nailbiter, winning by just one run over Myrtle Beach, thanks in part to Adam Maier putting up arguably his best professional performance to date.
Across 6.1 innings, Maier scattered just three hits while allowing only one run. The right-hander also only walked two and struck out seven Pelicans on the night.
Both squads went scoreless across the first three frames, but Augusta finally broke through to score the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kade Kern singled and followed that up by stealing second base. After Noah Williams grounded out to move Kern up to third, Robert Gonzalez singled into left field to plate Kern and make it 1-0.
Maier’s only blemish on the night came in the seventh inning as Myrtle Beach scored one run to tie the game at 1-1.
After Maier gave way to Adel Dilone and the Augusta bullpen, the Pelicans added on to their lead in the top of the eighth to make it 2-1. However, the GreenJackets would retake the lead in the bottom of the eighth frame.
Kern walked and subsequently stole second base. After Kern advanced to third on a balk, he scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2-2. Two batters later, Jeremy Celedonio homered to make it a 3-2 lead for Augusta.
Dilone — who ultimately tossed 2.2 innings — slammed the door shut, preserving the one-run lead and the win.
(6-19) FCL Braves 6, (17-8) FCL Rays 13
- Junior Garcia, RF: 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
- Angel Nieblas, 2B: 3-5, 2 2B, RBI, R
- Justin Militello, SP: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 2 BB
It was a rough go of it on Friday for the Braves’ FCL squad lost by a 13-6 final.
Starter Justin Militello lasted just one-third of an inning, allowing six earned runs as the Rays jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Rays tacked on another run in the second inning to make it 7-0.
The Braves got on the board in the top of the third as Douglas Glod singled home Junior Garcia to make it a 7-1 game. However, the Rays scored twice more in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 9-1.
In the top of the fourth, Angel Nieblas scored on an error as Mario Baez plated Carlos Cordero to make it 9-3. After the Rays scored two more runs in the home half of the fourth, the Braves wouldn’t score again until the top of the seventh.
Garcia led off the frame with a home run while later in the inning, John Estevez scored on a Nieblas double to make it 11-6 Rays.
The Rays got those two runs back in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it 13-6, which would hold as the final.