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Friday was chock-full of interesting games for Atlanta’s minor league affiliates. Four of the six squads in action came away with a victory, including a pair of one-run wins and a commanding 12-0 win by Gwinnett. So, without further ado, let’s dive in.
(32-35) Gwinnett Stripers 12, (35-32) Nashville Sounds 0
- Nacho Alvarez Jr., SS: 3-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R
- Drake Baldwin, C: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Yuli Gurriel, 1B: 2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
- Ramon Laureano, RF: 3-4, RBI, 3 R
- Bryce Elder, SP: 8 IP, 4 H, 9 K
Box Score
Gwinnett dominated Nashville in every sense of the word, scoring an even dozen runs while shutting out the Sounds.
After a scoreless first, the Stripers broke out in a huge way in the bottom of the second inning. All told, Gwinnett plated seven runs in the frame — all with two outs.
Eli White was hit by a pitch with one out in the inning and proceeded to steal second base. Luke Waddell and Sandy Leon drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. After Andrew Velazquez struck out, White scored on a wild pitch to give the Stripers a 1-0 lead. From there, Gwinnett poured it on.
Ramon Laureano plated Waddell on a single to make it 2-0 before Nacho Alvarez Jr. doubled to score Leon and Laureano to extend the lead to 4-0. Drake Baldwn then launched a two-run homer to make it 6-0 before Yuli Gurriel homered himself to give Gwinnett the commanding 7-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Gwinnett added on. Laureano laced a one-out single before Alvarez Jr. homered — his second in as many nights — to extend the lead to 9-0. Two innings later, the Stripers continued to pour it on, scoring three times more. After Laureano and Alvarez Jr. both singled, Yuli Gurriel notched a three-run homer to extend the lead to an even dozen for the Stripers.
While the Stipers’ offense was dominating, starter Bryce Elder was dominating. Across eight innings, Elder scattered just four hits while striking out nine batters. Ben Bowden came on in the ninth inning and struck out one to preserve the dominating lead and give Gwinnett the win.
(27-32) Mississippi Braves 1, (31-28) Rocket City Trash Pandas 0
- KeShawn Ogans, 3B: 2-3
- Cal Conley, SS: 1-3, R
- Drew Parrish, SP: 7 IP, 2 H, BB, 6 K
Box Score
Mississippi was on the positive end of a low-scoring affair against Rocket City.
Braves starter Drew Parrish dominated, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out six batters across seven frames on the night to lead the way for the Braves to notch a shutout. In total, Rocket City was limited to just two hits on the night in what was a stellar performance all-around by Mississippi’s pitching staff.
Offensively for the Braves, things weren’t much better as Mississippi only tallied four hits on the night. However, it would prove to be more than enough.
In the bottom of the fifth, Mississippi scored the games only run as Cal Conley scored on a passed ball on a walk to Cade Bunnell to make it 1-0 Braves.
(33-26) Rome Emperors 1, (33-28) Bowling Green Hot Rods 0
- Sabin Ceballos, 3B: 2-4
- Jace Grady, RF: 1-4, R
- Lucas Braun, SP: 7 IP, 4 H, 12 K
Box Score
Rome only scored once on Friday, but that was more than enough as starter Lucas Braun easily put up the best performance of his young professional career on the night.
Across seven innings, Braun allowed just four hits while striking out an even dozen batters to pave the way to an Emperors win. In his last three starts, Braun has allowed just three total runs while striking out 25 batters across 19 innings.
At the dish, things were much more bleak for Rome as the Emperors scored just once on the day.
The game was scoreless through the first six innings before Rome scored in the top of the seventh inning. Jace Grady laced a two-out single and proceeded to steal second base prior to E.J. Exposito singling him home to make it 1-0.
Thanks to Braun’s stellar performance, that lone run would prove to be more than enough as the Emperors took Friday’s game by a 1-0 final.
